Taoiseach questions EU-Israel agreement due to fears of human rights breach

What we want to work towards is a situation whereby there is a ceasefire in Gaza, the killing ends, the hostages are released, humanitarian aid gets in and that a refreshed or reformed Palestinian authority could then take over control of Gaza.

"We can support that and then recognise that as a Palestinian state. A number of EU states acting together to recognise Palestine could enable a more equal negotiation to happen after the war has ended," Mr Varadkar said.

Speaking in Brussels, where EU leaders discussed the genocide case being taken against Israel by South Africa, Mr Varadkar said he had raised the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

"EU-Israeli relations are founded on an agreement which has a human rights clause, and a lot of us believe that Israel may be in breach of it. One of the values that the EU is founded on is human rights, and a country that sees itself as a Western, as a liberal democracy, like Israel, we expect them to uphold those standards," he said.

The Taoiseach said there "isn't full agreement" on the issue among European leaders but "it’s something I called for today, and I called for last December".

Mr Varadkar added that the European Commission would have to assess whether human rights clauses have been broken before any further action would be taken.

Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement states that relations between the parties "shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles".

Leaders also discussed recent claims that staff from , had been involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told leaders the next payment of EU funds to UNRWA is due this month and assurances must be given ahead of this.