The small amount of humanitarian aid Israel has allowed into Gaza is a “drop in the ocean”, the European Union‘s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has said, as the union renews debate about reviewing its relationship with Israel.
At least 10 national capitals now support a review being carried out into the EU’s trade agreement with Israel, to determine if its actions during the war in Gaza breached commitments to respect human rights.
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU states are set to debate reviewing the agreement during a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon.
Israel’s near-three month blockade stopping food and aid getting into the Palestinian enclave has seen a number of EU states switch positions and back calls for a review.
Aid agencies have been repeatedly warning that blocking the flow of aid into Gaza has put the two million Palestinians in the territory at risk of famine, as food, fuel and other supplies begin to run out.
In response to growing international pressure, Israel allowed five United Nations aid trucks into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Ms Kallas said this only represented a “drop in the ocean” and more needed to be done. “There are thousands of [aid] trucks behind the borders waiting ... It has to reach the people because the situation is extremely grave,” she said.
Minister of State for International Development Neale Richmond, representing the Irish Government, said the EU needed to step up and hold Israel to account.
He said Ms Kallas did not need the support of a majority of EU states to ask for a review of the EU-Israel agreement. “Children are dying, children are starving, families are being murdered every day,” he said.
“Over 60 days the people of Gaza haven’t been able to access basic medicines, shelter and food, it’s absolutely horrendous,” the Fine Gael TD said.
There had been “very clear breaches” by Israel of the human rights clauses in its agreement with the EU, he said.
Ireland and Spain first proposed the EU’s “association” agreement with Israel be reviewed in February 2024, in response to Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza.
The Dutch government has been behind the renewed push to pressure the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm responsible for trade policy, to examine the deal.
The proposal to review the agreement is also supported by the governments of France, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and others.
Speaking before the meeting, Ms Kallas said she wanted to hear all the views around the table.
The EU foreign affairs chief said her “priority” was to first make sure enough humanitarian aid got into Gaza.
More than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed during the bombardment and invasion of Gaza by Israel’s military. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
