Malta backs proposal for review of EU-Israeli agreement over Gaza offensive

Malta joined 15 other EU member states to call for a review of the trade and cooperation agreement between the bloc and Israel on Tuesday.

The Dutch proposal for a review of the agreement in the wake of Israel’s actions in Gaza was backed by a majority during a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The move follows a two-month Israeli blockade of Gaza that stopped humanitarian aid from entering the Palestinian enclave amid warnings of famine taking hold among the population. Israel has also ramped up military action in the enclave with the aim of taking control of the territory.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ian Borg said after the meeting that forced displacement is contrary to international law and called for the immediate lifting of the humanitarian aid blockade.

“Starvation cannot be used as a weapon of war,” he said.

Israel only partially lifted the blockade on Monday but humanitarian workers have said the trickle of aid allowed in was nowhere near the needs of the population.

Nine member states—Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden—had publicly backed the Netherlands' proposal ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

Malta, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia also backed the review on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources. Austria, a staunch supporter of Israel, did not voice any opposition, according to diplomatic sources quoted by Euronews.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania were said to be against, while Latvia was "neutral", Euronews reported.

Foreign ministers of all member states bar Hungary also agreed with a proposal to introduce further sanctions on Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank.

Tuesday’s decision means that the European Commission will now launch a review to establish whether Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The agreement defines the trading and diplomatic relations between both sides.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, a relationship worth €45 billion annually.

"It is clear from today's discussions that there is a strong majority in favour of a review of article 2 of our Association Agreement with Israel," the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, told reporters in Brussels.

This move represents one of the strongest rebukes to Israel by the EU in the wake of its continued offensive in Gaza that has left around 55,000 Palestinians dead.

Significantly, the proposal to review the association agreement came from the Netherlands, traditionally a strong supporter of Israel. This signals that even Israel’s staunchest allies are losing patience over the campaign of repression Israel has been waging in Gaza since October 2023.

On Tuesday, the UK summoned the Israeli ambassador over the Gaza blockade and suspended talks over a trade agreement.

The UK, France and Canada had warned of concrete action against Israel if the blockade was not lifted.

Israel started military action in Gaza after the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants inside Israel. In those attacks some 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds taken hostage back to Gaza.

Some of the hostages were released as part of ceasefire arrangements agreed between Israel and Hamas. Nonetheless, Hamas still holds 58 hostages, with at least 34 believed to be dead.