Foreign ministers from across the European Union have tussled over what action to take in response to Israel’s deadly war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as the bloc’s aid chief urged them to “find a strong voice that reflects our values and principles”.
Ministers from the EU’s 27 member states gathered in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on Saturday to discuss the situation in Gaza, where Israel’s military assault has killed more than 63,000 people since October 2023.
The ministers were also expected to debate a proposal to suspend EU funding for Israeli start-ups as an initial punitive action over the country’s war.
“It’s clear that member states disagree on how to get the Israeli government to change course,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said before the talks.
“I’m not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions,” she said. “It sends a signal that we are divided.”
Growing numbers of protesters have taken to the streets across Europe in recent months to demand action from their respective governments to pressure Israel to end its war on Gaza, which experts have described as a genocide.
Many EU governments have sharply criticised Israel’s conduct during the war, particularly over the deaths of Palestinian civilians and restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the coastal enclave.
The outcry intensified after a United Nations-backed global hunger monitor said last week it had determined there was famine in Gaza – a finding rejected by Israel despite overwhelming evidence.
But the EU so far has failed to agree on a course of action to pressure Israel to end its bombardment and blockade of Gaza.
Some member states such as Spain and Ireland have called for economic curbs and an arms embargo against Israel while others, including Germany and Hungary, have pushed back against efforts to sanction the Israeli government.
Speaking to Al Jazeera before Saturday’s meeting, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said “doing nothing” has failed to achieve anything, nearly two years into the Gaza war. “So the time of declaration[s] is really over. We have to move forward,” he said.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen urged the bloc to “find common ground” while calling for sanctions against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition government.
“I am not revealing a secret by saying we must change words into sanctions,” Rasmussen said. “Denmark is ready to suspend the trade chapter in the association agreement and put sanctions on the Netanyahu government and some ministers in his government.”
The EU’s executive body proposed last month to curb Israeli access to an EU research-funding programme but the initiative has so far not found enough support from member states to pass.
Countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland have shown support for the proposal, but others, such as Germany and Italy, have not backed it so far, diplomats say.
Reporting from Copenhagen as the foreign ministers held their talks on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the failure to reach a consensus comes amid “a change of mood on the streets of Europe”.
“More and more people across Europe say that the EU failed to deliver on the promises it made when it comes to the protection of humanitarian law and human rights,” said Ahelbarra, adding that the EU has “huge political and financial leverage over Israel”.
“There is huge pressure on them to deliver,” he said.
Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for crisis management, who oversees EU humanitarian aid, said earlier this week that it was “time for the EU to find a collective voice on Gaza”.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, she declined to specify what action she thought should be taken but made clear she wanted more pressure on Israel.
“What is happening there is haunting me and should haunt all of us,” she said of Gaza. “Because this is a tragedy. And we will be judged by history.”
