Spanish, Irish PMs call for review of 'Israel's' EU trade obligations
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The letter straightforwardly requests that the bloc promptly undertakes a review of the EU-"Israel" association agreement that came into force in 2000 and includes human rights obligations which have been clearly violated by the regime.
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Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left, speaks with Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 (AP)
Amid Israeli plans to invade and destroy the overcrowded city of Rafah, the Prime Ministers of Spain and Ireland have urged the EU leadership to promptly reassess "Israel's" human rights obligations as stipulated in a trade deal signed with the bloc.
The plea was communicated in a three-page long letter addressed to commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The EU's commitment to human rights and dignity can have no exceptions.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) February 14, 2024
Given the critical situation in Rafah, Ireland and Spain have just requested the @EU_Commission to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its obligations to respect human rights in Gaza.
We also…
Some argue that the letter is intended to encourage the bloc to voice a legal opinion on the situation in Gaza and pressure "Israel" to cease its genocidal campaign.
"We are deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation in Israel and in Gaza, especially the impact the ongoing conflict is having on innocent Palestinians, especially children and women," the letter, jointly written by Spain's Pedro Sanchez and Ireland's Leo Varadkar, read.
"The expanded Israeli military operation in the Rafah area poses a grave and imminent threat that the international community must urgently confront."
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The letter straightforwardly requests that the bloc promptly undertake a review of the EU-"Israel" association agreement that came into force in 2000 and includes human rights obligations, which the regime has clearly violated.
"We ask that the commission undertake an urgent review of whether Israel is complying with its obligations, including under the EU-Israel association agreement, which makes respect for human rights and democratic principles an essential element of the relationship; and if it considers that it is in breach, that it proposes appropriate measures to the council to consider," the letter said.
The request is made "against the background of the risk of an even greater humanitarian catastrophe posed by the imminent threat of Israeli military operations in Rafah … and continues to occur in Gaza since October 2023, including widespread concern about possible breaches of [international humanitarian law] and international human rights law by Israel."
The EU's commitment to human rights and dignity can have no exceptions. Given the critical situation in Rafah, Ireland and Spain have just requested the @EU_Commission to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its obligations to respect human rights in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/9ZvzCjC2yM
— MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) February 14, 2024
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Ireland and Spain have both been highly critical of "Israel's" genocidal campaign in Gaza and have repeatedly voiced concerns about the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe. They have been strongly pushing for a ceasefire and repeatedly called for "Israel" to comply with its human rights obligations, which constitute the basis of the agreement with the EU.
On Tuesday, Varadkar told the Irish Parliament that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is purposefully disregarding calls from the international community to abandon plans for invading Rafah and that there is a "serious risk of a massacre" if the invasion proceeds.
He further said that Netanyahu's actions were making the long-term situation for "Israel" much worse if he persisted on "going down the path they are going."
"We must not lose sight of the pressing need for a political perspective to end the conflict. Almost 28,000 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 67,000 are injured, and we have witnessed the displacement of 1.9 million people (85% of the population) within Gaza and the wholesale destruction of homes and extensive damage to vital civilian infrastructure, including hospitals," the letter adds.
"We have repeatedly expressed our total condemnation of Hamas’s indiscriminate terrorist attacks of 7 October and call for the immediate and unconditional release of remaining hostages," adding that "Israel's" right to 'defend' itself "can only be exercised in line with international law … [and] must comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution."
