A group of EU officials has written to the leaders of the European institutions criticising the bloc for “little or no meaningful action” in response to the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The group EU Staff for Peace said that more than 2,000 officials working for the European Commission, European parliament and EU agencies had signed a letter drafted in May 2024 which accused the EU of apathy to the plight of Palestinians.
On the first anniversary of that letter, the group has written again to EU leaders, saying: “The EU institutions have failed to bring the European Union’s political, diplomatic and economic influence to bear in order to ameliorate the situation in Gaza.”
EU “inaction” has “contributed to the environment of unaccountability that resulted in the full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip taking place at this moment”, continues the letter sent to the presidents of the European Commission, European Council and the European parliament.
The letter was sent less than a week after the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas announced a review of the EU’s trade agreement with Israel, at the behest of a large majority of member states. The EU staff group welcomed this move, but said it was “devastatingly late for thousands killed in Gaza”.
The commission has yet to reveal the timetable for reviewing the trade accord, which was signed in 2000. While the EU-Israel agreement can only be suspended by unanimous agreement among the 27 member states, key provisions, including on trade and Israel’s participation in Europe’s Horizon research funding programme, can be frozen on the basis of a weighted-majority vote.
“The recent announcement of a review of the EU-Israel association agreement – 20 months into the conflict, and as thousands of children face starvation due to the renewed blockade on humanitarian aid – raises serious concerns about the adequacy and timing of the EU’s response,” Zeno Benetti, one of the co-authors of the letter, said.
EU Staff for Peace last year called for a suspension of the EU-Israel agreement, an end to member states’ arms exports to Israel and “concrete efforts” to support the work of the international criminal court and international court of justice. The group has now accused the institutions they work for of an “apparent double standard” by failing to condemn European leaders who discussed hosting Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister wanted for alleged war crimes by the ICC.
Hungary hosted Netanyahu for a four-day state visit in April. Poland considered the possibility of him attending the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and Germany’s then chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, promised to find a way for Netanyahu to visit Germany without being arrested.
EU Staff for Peace has requested meetings with the offices of the three presidents. Most Thursdays, the group gathers outside the headquarters of the European Council and European Commission for a lunchtime rally calling for peace in the Middle East.
The Commission did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but has previously rejected accusations of inaction in policy towards Israel and Gaza. Last week the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “unacceptable” while calling for an end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza and the immediate release of the Israeli hostages.
