Lebanon must not become a "second Gaza" as Europe fails to use its leverage against Israel while it expands its military operations, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said on Thursday.
"Are we going to accept a second Gaza? Do we want southern Lebanon to be a field of ruins while we continue and turn a blind eye? I don't think that's right," Mr Bettel said on the sideline of a meeting in Cyprus of the EU's 27 foreign ministers.
In a rare public rebuke, Mr Bettel called out Germany and Austria for blocking the EU's decision-making process when it comes to Israel.
"As soon as we try to move forward with sanctions and pressure against Israel, we have a hard time," Mr Bettel said.
"I know that Germany and Austria say they have an eternal debt to Israel. That doesn't excuse what we have today," he added, in an apparent reference to the two European countries' role in the near-extinction of Europe's Jewish population during the Second World War.
Some measures, including suspending preferential tariffs in trade with Israel as suggested in September by the EU Commission, require a qualified majority. Sanctions need unanimity.
Other states are deeply committed to shielding Israel, like the Czech Republic. Its foreign minister recently publicly pledged to block EU measures attacking Israel.
Heavy Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon overnight and into Thursday, after Israel declared a new swathe of the area "a combat zone". A building in Beirut's southern suburb was also attacked despite a ceasefire struck on April 16 between Israel and Hezbollah.
The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas acknowledged there was pushback among EU states against the idea of sanctioning Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. "There is a lot of pressure also from the member states who so far have been objecting to sanctioning ministers," she said.
Ms Kallas did not name the states, in line with her role which includes preserving EU unity.
A recent video in which Mr Ben-Gvir taunted European activists arrested by Israeli security services while en route to Gaza by boat caused outrage across Europe and among Israeli cabinet members.
France and Poland issued visa bans against Mr Ben-Gvir, following a similar decision taken last year by four other EU states - Spain, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Belgium.
But many, like more recently Italy, have called for EU-wide sanctions, which include an asset freeze. The subject will be on the agenda of the next meeting of foreign affairs ministers in June, Ms Kallas said.
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also criticised the expansion of Israeli army operations in southern Lebanon. "The order of declaring the south of Lebanon as a zone of war and to tell everyone to leave the area is completely unacceptable. It is contrary to the international law," Mr Albares said.
The people of Lebanon and Palestine have the same right to exist as Israel, he argued. "That's why the voice of Europe must go very high, telling Israel that if they want to relate with us normally, they cannot behave like that. Democracies don't violate international law. They don't violate human rights," Mr Albares added.
Alongside Ireland, Spain has tried since 2024 to push EU states to suspend at minimum a preferential tariff agreement with Israel. Despite a Commission proposal, the push has failed to garner the required qualified majority - 55 per cent of EU states representing 65 per cent of the bloc's population.
