Ireland has increased pressure on the EU to review the human rights clause of its association agreement with Israel following a famine alert in Gaza.
An initial request filed by Ireland and Spain in February 2024 was ignored by the EU Commission – the EU's executive arm. But a recent call for a review filed by the Netherlands and triggered by Israel's blockade of aid into Gaza has gained momentum. The Dutch initiative has been supported by Finland, Portugal, Sweden and France.
“The EU-Israel Association Agreement has clauses on human rights," Simon Harris, Ireland's Foreign Minister, wrote on X on Monday. "It says relations shall be based on respect for human rights. These words must have meaning. There must be a review of the agreement. The world is not doing nearly enough. The EU must show leadership.”
European countries are duty bound to do everything possible to bring an end to violence, assure humanitarian aid into Gaza and secure the immediate release of all Israeli hostages, Mr Harris said.
Food security experts on Monday said Gaza's population of more than two million people are likely to fall into famine if Israel does not end its blockade and continues bombing the enclave. About 52,829 Gazans have been killed by Israel's retaliatory war after around 1,200 people died in Hamas-led attacks in October 2023.
Starvation is already present in the enclave, with nearly half a million Palestinians enduring “catastrophic” levels of hunger, and one million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an international authority on the severity of hunger crises. The group said “there is a high risk” of outright famine if circumstances don’t change.
In a letter to the EU's foreign affairs minister Kaja Kallas, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp wrote on May 6 that Israel's blockade of Gaza broke international humanitarian law and thereby Article 2 of the EU-Israel association agreement.
There is no formal procedure for the EU Commission to review human rights clauses, which are enshrined in all of the bloc's association agreements.
