EU demands Israel to take more action on the aid deal as strikes in Gaza continue

If the humanitarian situation does not improve, the 27-member group will be open to Israeli operations in the attacks on the besieged and bombed Gaza Strip, the head of foreign policy of the EU, Kaja Kallas said.

Karas proposed 10 potential options on Tuesday after discovering that Israel violated the cooperation agreement between the two sides on human rights grounds.

These measures range from moratoriums throughout the agreement or curbing trade relations to sanctions against Israeli ministers, imposing arms embargos and cessation of visa-free travel.

Despite growing anger over Gaza’s destruction, EU countries are still divided on Israel’s solution and there is no agreement on any action taken at the meeting of the EU Foreign Minister on Tuesday in Brussels.

“If Israel does not meet its commitment, we will put these choices on the table and be prepared to take action,” Karas told reporters. “The purpose is not to punish Israel. The purpose is to truly improve the situation in Gaza.”

After the meeting in Brussels, Karas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar went on the deal. Saar met with EU leaders after last week’s agreement to bring much-needed food and fuel into a coastal enclave of 2.3 million people last week, who suffered a fatal attack in a severe lockdown for more than 21 months.

“The crossings have been opened, we’ve seen more trucks in, we’ve also seen the power network operation, but that’s obviously not enough because the situation still doesn’t hold up,” Karas said.

The details of the deal are unclear, but EU officials have rejected any cooperation with the Israeli-backed GHF on ethics and security issues.

Call for an end to Israel

European countries like Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain are increasingly demanding a reassessment of EU ties with Israel after the war, which has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

A European Commission report found “signs” that Israel’s actions in Gaza violated human rights obligations in agreements linked to the EU, but the group divided them in terms of how to respond.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said public pressure on Israel’s actions in Gaza made a new humanitarian agreement possible, adding: “I want to maintain the strength of 27 EU member states now.”

Irish Foreign Minister Thomas Byrne said Karas would provide EU member states with actual aid to Gaza every two weeks.

“So far, we haven’t really seen it happening, maybe there are some small actions, but there are still massacres, and still denying access to food and water,” he said. “We need to see action.”

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno said details of the deal are still under discussion and the EU will monitor the results to see if Israel complies.

“It’s obvious that the agreement is not the end – we have to stop the war,” he said.

There were regular protests throughout the continent, including small protests on Tuesday discussing aid programs outside the European Council.

Dozens of protesters in Brussels have demanded more aggressive action to stop Israel’s largely destroyed Gaza Strip, where famine and health care systems are on the verge of collapse.

“It can do that for Russia,” said Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. “A sanction from Israel must now be agreed to end genocide and humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Human rights groups largely claim that the EU is under-action.

“It’s not just political cowardice,” said Amnes International Secretary General Agnes Callamard. “Whenever the EU does not take action, the risk of complicity in Israel’s actions increases. This will send an extremely dangerous message to the perpetrators of atrocities who will not only be punished, but will be rewarded.”

“Towards the unknown”

Israel and Hamas have been indirectly negotiated over a new ceasefire agreement for two weeks, but the speech appears to be at a deadlock.

The Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the negotiations had not stopped, but were still in its early stages, adding that both Israel and Hamas delegations were in Doha.

Meanwhile, Israel resumed the attack in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people, including two women shot near the aid allocation point of the controversial Israeli and the U.S.-backed GHF.

Gaza’s civil defense said on Tuesday that “its crew has transported at least 18 martyrs and dozens of injured since dawn”, mostly following Israeli air strikes in Israel’s Northern Gaza Strip where Israel has stepped up its offensive in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, the Army issued another forced evacuation threat to Palestinians living in 16 areas of northern Gaza.

Among them is Jabalia, a town where residents who suffer from fear and panic escape.

“People are using cars and donkeys to evacuate the area, and everyone is moving towards unknown people; they don’t know where to go.”

“They also struggled with transportation because there was no fuel to move from here and elsewhere. So the situation was very messy. Everyone who lives here was in a state of panic.”

According to the Civil Defense Agency, an Israeli strike also hit a tent in a house in Gaza, displaced Palestinians and killed six people.

In the southern part of Rafah, two women were killed by Israeli fire near the aid allocation point, the agency said, adding that 13 people were injured in the incident.

The United Nations said at least 875 people have tried to get assistance from Gaza since the GHF began operation in late May.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health team from the UN Palestinian Refugee Assistance Agency (UNFAR) warned that malnutrition rates are increasing, especially since the Israeli attacks were strengthened four months ago.

According to General Philippe Lazzarini, Director of the IAU, one in 10 children screened were malnourished.

In a statement, the group called “engineering and artificial” in striptease.