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The EU last week faced a defining test of its commitment to human rights and international law — and it failed. Presented with irrefutable evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the bloc’s foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to consider 10 possible actions: from suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement to imposing sanctions on Israeli officials and banning trade with illegal settlements. Yet, in the end, they took the politically easy path, securing a handful of humanitarian concessions from Israel in return for shelving all meaningful accountability.

Let me be clear: aid access is essential. Gaza’s suffering is beyond comprehension. And Palestinians dying from bullets and hunger will no doubt appreciate any relief. But allowing Israel to dictate the terms of food and medical relief — as if these are diplomatic chips and not legal obligations — strips humanitarianism of its moral force. EU officials may consider what they accomplished a “diplomatic success.” They will state that they used diplomatic leverage to push for aid delivery. But what the EU hails as progress is, in truth, a lowering of the bar so far that the basic survival of a besieged population becomes the summit of European diplomacy.

This is not only disappointing. It is dangerous. The EU-Israel Association Agreement explicitly states that respect for human rights is a cornerstone of bilateral relations. Yet, even after clear violations — documented by Amnesty International, the UN and dozens of credible nongovernmental organizations — the EU opted to maintain business as usual. Israel continues to enjoy access to European markets, research programs and diplomatic forums while violating the very principles the agreement is meant to uphold.

According to Amnesty International, Israel has killed women and children with no evidence of any military target nearby. Journalists, medical personnel, ambulance drivers and kitchen supply teams have been killed without accountability. Schools, hospitals, bakeries and houses have been shelled.

The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry further concluded that Israel’s total blockade on Gaza — cutting off food, water, electricity and fuel — amounts to collective punishment and may constitute a crime against humanity or genocide.

Despite this, the EU, which has implemented harsh sanctions against the Russian occupiers of Ukraine, chose not to sanction complicit officials and not to halt trade with illegal settlements. This inaction occurred even after its own diplomats, along with church leaders, saw with their own eyes the destruction caused to Palestinians and churches in the West Bank town of Al-Taybeh.

If Europe still believes in its founding principles — human dignity, the rule of law and justice — then it must act like it.

Daoud Kuttab

In 2024, when independently documented Israeli war crimes were widely reported, the total two-way trade in goods between Israel and EU member states was €42.6 billion ($49.5 billion). The EU accounted for about 32 percent of Israel’s total goods trade, contributing roughly 34.2 percent of its imports and 28.8 percent of its exports, making it Tel Aviv’s biggest trading partner.

Instead of agreeing on any one of the 10 sanctions options, EU officials — who needed a consensus of all 27 member countries — negotiated for food trucks, fuel for hospitals and other humanitarian aid that is already an obligation to be provided by an occupier according to international humanitarian law. This moral abdication is more than a policy failure — it is a betrayal of the EU’s legal commitments.

Europe’s inaction sends a dangerous message: that Israel can commit atrocities with impunity. No political price. No trade penalty. No sanctions. The Geneva Conventions are not suggestions — they are binding obligations. And if countries that tout the rule of law allow them to be violated without consequence, their credibility collapses. Europe’s silence does not just embolden Israel, it weakens the global order that holds war criminals accountable.

The impact of this decision will not be confined to Gaza. If Israel, a state benefiting from billions in EU trade and cooperation, can bomb hospitals, starve civilians and raze homes with no repercussions, then what incentive remains for any state to respect humanitarian law? Europe’s moral authority now lies in tatters.

Some of the countries that prevented the EU from doing the right thing included Germany, Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic. The fear of diplomatic fallout and the need to preserve internal cohesion at all costs outweighed the courage to uphold justice.

Still, there is a path forward. If the EU as a whole will not act, its member states must. National governments should suspend arms transfers, ban trade with illegal settlements and sever cooperation with institutions complicit in occupation and apartheid. These are not radical steps, they are legal necessities.

The stakes are too high for empty statements. Every day without accountability is a day of impunity, a day when another child dies under rubble, another family starves behind a blockade and another future is extinguished. If Europe still believes in its founding principles — human dignity, the rule of law and justice — then it must act like it.

Because history is watching. And so are the people of Gaza.

• Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. He is the author of “State of Palestine NOW: Practical and Logical Arguments for the Best Way to Bring Peace to the Middle East.” X: @daoudkuttab