COPENHAGEN — European Union Foreign Policy Chief Voices Doubt on Sanctioning Israel
Europe’s top diplomat signaled Saturday that the European Union is unlikely to take punitive action against Israel over the war in Gaza, underscoring deep rifts within the 27-nation bloc, reported by Arab News.
Speaking in Copenhagen ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, admitted, “I’m not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions. It sends a signal that we are divided.”
Ministers are set to debate proposals ranging from suspending EU funding for Israeli start-ups to broader trade restrictions. Yet repeated attempts to build consensus have faltered, with some member states firmly aligned with Israel and others pressing for stronger measures in defense of Palestinian civilians.
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, urged a firmer response. “We must change words into action,” he said, calling for sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers and a ban on imports from illegal settlements.
The political impasse comes as humanitarian conditions in Gaza deteriorate further. The United Nations has declared a famine in the enclave, where nearly the entire population has been displaced at least once.
The war erupted after Hamas’s October 2023 attack killed 1,219 people in Israel, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has since claimed more than 63,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures that the UN considers credible.
As pressure mounts on Israel from both domestic critics and the international community, Europe’s divisions leave its collective voice fractured at a moment of global scrutiny.
