EU warned by staff that starvation in Gaza will exponentially increase

A pro-Gaza protest in front of the European Parliament in Brussels to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza. Anadolu via Getty Images

Leaders of European Union institutions have received a stark warning from their own staff that starvation in Gaza is set to exponentially increase without immediate action to press Israel to allow massive amounts of aid into the enclave.

The letter, signed by around 1,600 EU staff, uses simplified modelling methods to highlight that Gaza is on course to surpass 100 starvation-related deaths per day. Initially sent two weeks ago and now obtained by The National, it echoes warnings made by international humanitarian organisations.

"The continuing blockade of food, baby formula, and medical supplies in Gaza is not only a profound humanitarian tragedy, but also a defining test of our Union’s moral and political foundations, principles without which the European project itself loses its meaning and legitimacy," read the letter, addressed to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the bloc's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

The letter's signatories represent only a fraction of the overall number of employees at EU institutions – the EU Commission alone employs more than 30,000 people. The Commission has warned that letters sent by staff to their hierarchy must not be made public and that it would actively assess breaches of employees' obligations. EU staff are civil servants bound to neutrality.

'Time is running out'

Yet frustration is growing among staff over the EU's inability to pressure Israel into allowing more aid into Gaza. News website Politico has reported that staff wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "say no to genocide" were recently escorted out of the European Council's canteen during a charity sale.

Requests to engage with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have so far not been met with a substantive response, The National understands. In January, the Commission responded to a request sent in October – backed by more than 1,800 staff – to discuss concerns in the EU's response to the war in Gaza by saying she had no time to do so.

A Commission spokesperson told The National they were looking into the letter dated July 29. "Staff members have the opportunity to express their views on various subjects, and the hierarchy is there to listen to that," said spokesman Balazs Ujvari. "But again, this has to be separated from a potential impact on the formulation of EU foreign policy, which is done in a very different fashion, formulated by the member states."

Displaced Palestinians gather to collect water from a truck during a heat wave at a makeshift tent camp in Khan Younis. AP Photo

Israel has not upheld its part of a deal struck by Ms Kallas in July to increase aid into the enclave, the letter said.

"Israel cannot be allowed to disdain yet another agreement and disrespecting the European Union," it said. "The European Union is Israel’s largest trading partner and, as such, it has considerable leverage to insist on compliance with international humanitarian law," it added.

Some countries, such as Finland and Sweden, have expressed support for the suspension of trade preferences, which would likely hurt Israel economically. The Commission has yet to table a proposal reflecting this request, which would require a qualified majority vote.

More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the Hamas-led attacks in October 2023 in which around 1,200 died. Ceasefire negotiations appear to be going nowhere. Israel now plans to reoccupy Gaza.

The letter warned that without an immediate and substantial restoration of food aid, the situation would rapidly worsen in the embattled enclave. "Famines don’t follow a linear trajectory, but they rather accelerate, often resembling exponential phenomena," it said.

Child malnutrition, which affected 12,000 children in Gaza in July, can have lifelong consequences including stunted brain development. "Time is running out," the letter added.

So far, the EU remains unable to muster enough political backing from its 27 member states to take any of the measures suggested by Ms Kallas, including a partial suspension of Israel from a flagship research programme. In June, her services established that Israel, in its conduct in Gaza, had breached a human rights clause enshrined in the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Taking no action is a violation of the EU's own rules, argue those that support sanctions. Yet despite increasing criticism of Israel, the EU remains deeply divided. Germany views its support of Israel as a "reason of state" due to its responsibility in the Holocaust. Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic are also among those have rejected proposals to suspend, in whole or in part, the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

'EU must act'

Israel has warned that the bloc would play no role in Gaza, should it move forward with sanctions. Israel has also accused countries that have taken decisions at national level of anti-Semitism. It has claimed that Hamas steals food in Gaza, an explanation which has been described as unconvincing by some European politicians, including in Germany. Berlin has recently suspended weapons exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission, has struck a deal with Israel to allow more aid in that has failed to yield significant results. AFP

The EU has a number of options on the table, according to the letter, but they would also require significant political will. They include suspending all diplomatic relations with Israel and sanctions against top Israeli leaders. Slovenia and the Netherlands have recently declared two far-right cabinet members persona non grata, but unanimous support would be needed from the EU's 27 for that decision to be replicated at EU level.

"Although in the discussion on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, some member states have sided with Israel and hindered the possibility to suspend the agreement, the European Union can and must act independently in other avenues," the letter said.

Meanwhile, hunger-related deaths are rising and the Gaza strip continues to face starvation, the UN said in a humanitarian update published Wednesday, with eight people reportedly dying in the past 24 hours. On August 10, NGO Save the Children said that 100 Gazan children had died of starvation since the start of the war.

The situation can no longer be described as a looming hunger crisis, said OCHA’s director of the co-ordination division, Ramesh Rajasingham, in a briefing to the UN Security Council on Gaza. "This is starvation, pure and simple," he added.