EU report exposes ongoing awareness of Israel’s “war crimes”

The leak of an EU report from last year which discussed “war crimes” in Gaza carried out by Israel, could put the country under further scrutiny, as the union’s long-standing awareness of Israel’s military activity has come to surface. 

At present, the European Commission and the EU foreign service are considering whether the military activity of Israel warrants a freeze on its association agreement, EUobserver reported on June 3rd. The agreement would help the country sell €15 billion per annum of arms, wine, cosmetics as well as other goods to Europe. Diplomats anticipate that by June 23rd the process will be finished. 

Some EU member states, such as Ireland and Spain as well as civil society organisations have been pushing for the agreement to be stopped for more than a year. But in the European parliament, just a small amount of its members have urged for the agreement to be suspended. 

The EU foreign service would not disclose to EUobserver whether its review for the association agreement will be publicly available.

Under Article 2 “[r]elations between the parties [EU and Israel], as well as all the provisions of the agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”

In December, quotes from the damning report were initially published by the US news publication, The Intercept. But sources of EUobserver have now published the full report. 

The EU paper said that it does not contain any “value judgment” by the union, but nevertheless said Israel has breached the core values of international humanitarian law.

The report discussed Israel’s “use [of] starvation as a method of warfare, which … constitute[s] atrocity crimes,” citing sources such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings. 

Claudio Francavilla from Human Rights Watch (HRW) said: “The evidence is so overwhelming the EU would make a joke of itself if it were to say Israel was in compliance with article 2 or with the laws of war.” 

Francavilla also said it would also mean the EU is “trashing the whole UN system and the world court,” if the union was to dismiss the facts from the OHCHR and ICJ, which it cited. 

H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow from the UK think-tank, the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said that the report makes it seem blatant that the union had long identified that Israel was committing abuses, but decided to not take any action. 

Hellyer said: “The most disturbing aspect of this document is that EU officials have, for a long time, been continuously well aware of various abuses, violations, and even likely war crimes … [but] have utterly failed to take measures to tackle this.”

The UN has expressed ongoing concern over the war on Gaza. UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said on May 16th, Israel’s military operations in Gaza were “tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”

On March 13th, The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Israel has committed the “crime against humanity” of killing civilians in Gaza, alongside violence that is of a sexual nature and “gender-based,” which constitutes torture and degradation. 

In order for the association agreement to be suspended, there needs to be consensus in the EU council, where the Israeli ally of Hungary would likely dismiss the potential suspension. Suspending the trade aspect of the agreement alone, would necessitate a qualified majority vote. 

If Israel decided to allow further aid to enter Gaza before June 23rd and the EU felt that this warrants no action against Israel then this would harm the global reputation of the union, with regards to tackling human rights issues, Hellyer said.

The report did also look into the actions of Hamas. It states that following the October 7th 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas held 97 captives in Gaza, at the time of the report, which is dated November 11th 2024. It stated that taking hostages amounts to a war crime and is also a breach of international humanitarian law. 

Europe has ramped up pressure on Israel to end its military campaign on Gaza, and on May 25th European and Arab countries arrived in Spain to engage in talks for a two-state solution, according to Euronews.

Previously, the EU recommenced its monitoring of the border between Gaza and Egypt, which is a key area for exiting and entering the war-torn enclave, Reuters reported on February 1st. 

EUobserver, Reuters, Euronews, Maghrebi.org, European Union