The allegations of double standards in the application of EU international law against Ukraine and the Gaza Strip have erod Europe’s credibility on the global South, and the bloc is eager to attack trade transactions, a former EU ambassador in the Palestinian occupied territory and the Gaza Strip told Eurons in an interview.
“Unfortunately, we have lost our global status. When you speak to the vast majority of countries in the world that want a stronger relationship in trade, economic resources, raw materials and energy supplies, we find a situation where mobilizing these partnerships is extremely difficult.”
Kuhn von Bergsdorf served as EU ambassador for the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip from January 2020 to July 2023. He was the coordinator of letters sent by 27 former EU ambassadors recently sent by 27 former EU ambassadors.
“We were very impressed with the speed of opposing Russia’s completely illegal Ukrainian invasion in February 2022. But what we did in the Palestinian incident was a shame. We actually closed our eyes.”
According to the former EU ambassador, the Bahamas and Micronesia are currently Europe’s only official and active supporters in the war with Russia from the Global South.
“This means that countries from the southern part of the world will not take the EU and member states seriously when they actually pledge to support human rights and defend international law,” the former EU envoy said, adding that the bloc must “oppose what we see every day in Gaza” to restore credibility.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked the Israeli community near Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and lured 251 people. As of June, 50 hostages remained, of which 27 are estimated to have died.
Since October 7, Israel has intensified military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, causing more than 60,000 casualties in Gaza.
On July 29, the United Nations said intermittent blockages of aid since March have caused hunger and widespread hunger.
“What happens every day is a horrifying sight of the Netanyahu government killing and cutting off innocent Gazan in order to pursue its purpose of destroying Hamas. The problem is that under international humanitarian law, there are established principles that govern the act of war, such as the distinction between military and civilian targets, comparison of the prime minister, and the proportion of the prime minister. Ex-EU envoys argued
The Israeli government described the battle with Hamas as an existential war and claimed it remained within the scope of international law.
EU inaction
The former EU envoy criticized the bloc’s inaction and inefficiency as well as the inefficiency of humanitarian transactions struck between the EU and Israel, announced on July 10 by the highest representative of EU foreign president Kaha Karas.
“Crows announced on July 14 that a significant increase in humanitarian aid would enter Gaza. Unfortunately, opposition has arisen. Not only are additional aid not permitted, but since that announcement hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in the distribution point of aid,” the former EU ambassador said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an organisation co-managed by Israel and the United States since April, has been responsible for distributing food to the Gaza Strip following the release of UN authorities from aid.
However, since its inception, the foundation has been heavily criticized by NGOs and UN agencies for its distribution practices, including episodes of suspected shootings by Israeli forces starving people trying to reach food supplies.
As of July 13, 875 people had died while trying to reach food, the United Nations reported.
“We need to act now to avoid a complete genocide, which appears to be a new consensus among the European masses, especially the youth.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sarle told the Associated Press on July 28 that it was unfounded and only the brave Hamas to label the war as genocide. Sar said Israel is targeting Hamas, not civilians.
Proposals of former EU envoys
The 58 former EU ambassadors made several recommendations on how they considered how the bloc would respond to Israel, including suspending trade agreements, ending research and cultural cooperation, and halting arms sales to Israel, Kün von Bergsdorf told Euronews.
“We were able to suspend the contract completely, but based on our assessment, it requires consensus among all 27 unlikely Member States. However, we can act by a qualified majority. That means at least 15 Member States representing two-thirds of the EU’s population can decide on commercial policy measures.
In the letter, the former Ambassador proposed halting all trade with illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory and approving violent Israeli settlers. “Nearly every day, violent Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes, run around the homes, drive out people, drive them out, destroy their property. This is a clear violation of international military law that requires the population of the occupying territory to be protected by the right of occupation (in this case Israel).”
Israeli officials denounced violent settlers, but described them as isolated incidents rather than systematic.
In the proposal, the former EU envoy called for sanctions by ministers to “evil or disappearance of Palestinians, or complete eviction of Gaza people, such as Finance Minister Bezaler Smodolich, Itamar Benmir or Defense Minister Israel Katz.”
“We can also suspend the academic research and technology programmes that Israel has established under the EU, known as Horizon Europe, where Israel has been a major beneficiary for years,” the EU EU ambassador proposed.
EU diplomats on Monday again disagreed with a partial suspension of Israel from the Horizon European Fund in response to the war in Gaza, several diplomats told Euroneuz.
The 27 EU diplomats gathered online for the regular Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party were unable to reach a qualified majority in the European Commission’s proposal to cut Israel from partial access to the EU’s 95 billion euro Horizon Europe Research Fund.
The former EU envoy calls the measure “a relatively minor proposal that is lacking,” noting that it targets only Israeli SME funds while resigning research, academic relations, trading with illegal settlements and business relations with entities in those fields.
