Words aren't enough – Palestinians need the EU to act
It’s now more important than ever that the EU acts to restrain Israel and offer a lifeline for Palestine. Here's why.
Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ met for the first time last week in Washington. The US President announced that nine of the Board’s member countries, predominantly Gulf States, have pledged USD 7 billion for relief in Gaza. The US will apparently give an extra USD 10 billion, though that depends on Congress’ approval.
Five other countries have agreed to send troops for an International Stabilisation force, while Egypt and Jordan would start training a new Palestinian police force. There’s are few details on how these funds would be spent or how and when the troops and police are to be deployed. All this likely depends on Hamas surrendering its weapons, something that they’ve made contingent on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
And there’s no sign of any such withdrawal yet. Despite the 12 October ceasefire, Israel has only increased its military activity in Gaza… and over 600 Palestinians have been killed since.
Just two EU Member States have so far joined the Board of Peace, Bulgaria and Hungary. Virtually all the others have declined Trump’s invitation, many sending only their ambassadors as observers. This a clear sign of the widespread scepticism in Europe about the initiative.
The European Commission’s decision to send Commissioner Dubravka Šuica to attend the Board of Peace’s first meeting as an observer remains unclear. But it was met with sharp criticism from France and other Member States, even though the Commission is the main source for European funds for the relief effort.
In Gaza though, little has changed. The Rafah crossing has been partially opened but very few people are allowed through. Israeli restrictions also continue to drastically limit the amount of humanitarian aid passing through the crossing.
To make matters worse, most international NGOs are facing huge challenges operating in Gaza after Israel cancelled their licences, claiming they’d failed to comply with ‘security and transparency’ rules. Even UNRWA has been banned from the territory. Between them, these entities normally account for well over half the aid distribution and most of the health and educational facilities in Gaza.
On the West Bank, Israel is withholding the Palestinian Authority’s tax revenues, causing it to radically reduce the salaries of its 150,000 employees. Israel has also announced a major expansion of new settlements, passed new regulations that will severely affect Palestinian property rights, and allowed violent settler groups to continually attack communities with virtual impunity.
Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, stated recently that all of this is in aid of ‘burying the idea of a Palestinian State’, making the Israeli government’s true intentions crystal clear.
The pledges made in Washington are thus likely to have little to no effect given the prevailing conditions. And until – or unless – Israel is pressured to change its course, the Board of Peace will be an emperor with no clothes. Whether Trump himself, perhaps worried about his legacy, will apply such pressure is unknown. But the long history of unconditional US support to Israel, right or wrong, should not be forgotten.
This is all why it’s more important than ever that the EU makes a new effort to enact the measures designed to restrain Israel that were ‘left on the table’ last October by High Representative Kaja Kallas, including the suspension of the Association agreement, the banning of all trade with the settlements and sanctions on violent settlers and their political supporters.
Fine words and declarations about the need for restraint and the sanctity of the two-state solution are but straws in the wind without genuine actions. In our upcoming session on the EU’s role in Gaza at CEPS Ideas Lab (on 3 March), we’ll explore pathways for Europe to act as a credible force for peace.
James Moran, Associate Senior Research Fellow