The European Commission says it will propose sanctioning "extremist Israeli ministers" and a partial suspension of the European Union's association agreement with Israel, targeting trade-related matters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement on Wednesday.
"What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world," von der Leyen said in a State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, acknowledging divisions within Europe on how to move forward and pledging that the commission will do what it can on its own.
A suspension of the trade chapter of the agreement would withdraw trade preferences for Israeli products to enter the EU market and would require a qualified majority vote among EU governments, according to a July options paper prepared by the bloc's diplomatic service.
The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner, accounting for nearly a third of Israel's total international trade in goods last year.
A qualified majority is reached with the support of 15 out of 27 members representing 65% of the EU population, a difficult threshold to reach at a time when European capitals continue to have diverging views on how to approach Israel and Gaza.
Von der Leyen also said that the Commission will put its bilateral support for Israel on hold, without affecting work with Israeli civil society and Yad Vashem, Israel's main Holocaust memorial centre.
The Commission had previously proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme but failed to garner sufficient support from EU member countries for the move.
Diplomats say Germany's view on the proposal is key, and Germany has said it is so far unconvinced.
The Commission chief said the body will set up a Palestine Donor Group next month, including an instrument for Gaza reconstruction.
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The European Commission says it will propose sanctioning "extremist Israeli ministers" and a partial suspension of the European Union's association ag...
Israel's decision to strike Qatar was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by Trump's administration, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (9 September). He added that a unilateral attack on Qatar does not serve American or Israeli interests.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in London on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s recent strike on the Hamas delegation in Qatar and ongoing developments in Ukraine.
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A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine but that it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland.
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Sebastien Lecornu, chosen by President Emmanuel Macron to be France's fifth prime minister in just two years, took office on Wednesday amid widespread anti-government protests that highlighted the country's deepening political crisis.
Singapore plans to acquire four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, a statement from the country's defence ministry said on Wednesday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russian drones had violated Polish airspace on Wednesday (10 September) calling the attack "reckless".
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