EU’s top diplomat proposes suspension of ‘political dialogue with Israel’, citing Gaza, Lebanon wars

In a blog post, Borrell highlighted that in other cases of violations of international law, the EU had imposed numerous sanctions, but that “until now Israel has been spared from any meaningful consequences”.

“This has to change. This is why I have proposed an import ban on illegal settlement products, based on the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, similar to the existing import ban on products from occupied Ukrainian territories – because even-handedness is the lynchpin of Europe’s credibility,” he stressed.

The Foreign Affairs Council will discusses the proposed measures next week.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 43,730 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 103,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

Israel launched a massive air campaign in late September in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza.

More than 3,300 people have been killed and over 14,500 injured in Israeli aggression since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon in early October.