Former EU ambassadors urge sanctions on Israel

Europe's increasingly critical attitude toward Israel over its actions in Gaza ramped up this week when 325 former European Union ambassadors and senior officials called on the United Nations to sanction the country.

The group made the call in a letter to the UN General Assembly, the Euronews website reported, saying the former top diplomats said the organization should "adopt sanctions against the multiple violations of international law being perpetrated daily by the Israeli government on the people of Palestine".

The letter said Israel's military actions in Gaza and its settlement policies in the West Bank made sanctions necessary.

In August, the UN declared there to be a famine in Gaza, and a UN commission of inquiry said this week Israel has committed "genocide" in the territory against Palestinians.

The UN has repeatedly condemned Israel over its activities in Gaza and the West Bank but has not yet issued legally binding sanctions, largely because a sanction requires a Security Council resolution with no veto by any of the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. France, the UK, and the US have strongly supported Israel in the past.

But, while Israel's relations with the US have become even closer since President Donald Trump took office, both France and the UK have distanced themselves from Israel recently, and said they will recognize a Palestinian state if things do not improve quickly. Additionally, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said Israel should be excluded from international sporting events as a punishment for its activities in Gaza.

The former EU officials said in their letter: "We urge EU member states that have not yet done so to join both the 147 UN member states who have already recognized the State of Palestine, and those who have announced they will do so at the upcoming UNGA meeting, notably France, Belgium, Malta, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia."

The former officials said the "heinous attacks" perpetrated by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023 against Israel, and the continuing detention of Israeli hostages in Gaza "can never justify the retribution wreaked on Gaza, which is becoming the graveyard of international law and universal human rights".

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said more than 64,000 people have perished there since Israel's offensive began in the aftermath of the Oct 7 attacks. The UN has said most of Gaza's population has been repeatedly displaced because of the conflict, and that more than 90 percent of homes have been damaged or destroyed. It added that healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems have all collapsed.

Israel has claimed the UN is biased against it and that its military response in Gaza has been necessary and proportionate.