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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Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 24th of February, covering the latest developments you need to...
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
Comments by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggesting that Israel had a biblical right to much of the Middle East drew condemnation over the weekend from countries across the region, which described the remarks as “dangerous and inflammatory”.
At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded in Israeli strikes in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Friday (20 February), two security sources told Reuters, after the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah sites in the Baalbek area.
Türkiye has signalled readiness to contribute to a proposed Gaza stabilisation force during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting on Thursday (19 February), but according to former Turkish diplomat Mehmet Öğütçü, the decisive factor will be whether Israel and the United States agree on Ankara’s role.
Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.
The United States and Iran will hold a new round of nuclear negotiations in Geneva on Thursday as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to reach a potential agreement, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced on Sunday.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
Mexican authorities said on Sunday that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho and head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.
Syria has secured a $50 million financing package from the World Bank to support transport infrastructure projects as the country advances its economic recovery efforts, Syrian media reported on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariffs have come into effect, hours after the Supreme Court blocked many of his sweeping import taxes in a 6–3 ruling. Allies around the world are weighing possible retaliation, while markets brace for further upheaval.
Torrential downpours have triggered deadly mudslides and widespread flooding in southern Peru, leaving at least seventeen people dead - including fifteen killed in a military helicopter crash - as hundreds of districts across the country remain under a state of emergency.
The U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, has been banned from meeting members of the French government after not showing up at the Foreign Affairs ministry, where he had been summoned over comments on the killing of a French far-right activist last week, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
Thailand and the United States, alongside 28 partner nations, began Southeast Asia’s largest and longest-running military exercise, the 45th Cobra Gold, on Tuesday (24 February) in Rayong province, Thailand.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 24th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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