Ireland and Spain call for review of EU agreement with Israel 

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez are calling for an urgent review of whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations under the EU/Israel Association Agreement

The leaders describe the expanded Israeli military operation in the Rafah area as posing a grave and imminent threat that the international community must urgently confront. Picture: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez have written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen expressing deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

The pair are calling for an urgent review of whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations under the EU/Israel Association Agreement.

The agreement is the basis for the EU's trade relations with Israel and was introduced in June 2000. It "aims to provide an appropriate legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation between the EU and Israel".

They describe the expanded Israeli military operation in the Rafah area as posing a grave and imminent threat that the international community must urgently confront.

The two leaders reiterated their total condemnation of Hamas’s terrorist attacks of 7 October, and Israel’s right to defend itself. However, they insist this must be in line with international law and International Humanitarian Law, including in the obligation to protect civilians.

They say that an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed to prevent irreversible harm to the people in Gaza, and recall the provisional measures adopted by the ICJ that require Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

They express their shared view that UNWRA must be allowed to continue its vital work saving lives and addressing the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, and that EU support to UNWRA must be maintained – there is no pathway to achieving the urgent massive and sustained scale-up in humanitarian assistance without UNWRA playing a central role.

In calling for a review of Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the EU/Israel Association Agreement, they ask the Commission to propose measures to be taken by the EU if it considers that Israel is in breach.

The letter comes as talks involving the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a Gaza truce ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday as calls grew for Israel to hold back on a planned assault on the southern end of the enclave, crammed with over a million displaced people.