The first meeting after the summer break of the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper), which was held on Wednesday 3 September, failed to produce any tangible political decisions by the EU27 on Israel. This is despite the scale of human suffering in the Gaza Strip, which is still being deprived of a massive influx of aid vital to the civilian population.
Even though Europeans have continued to denounce the “humanitarian catastrophe” in recent weeks, continually urging the Hebrew state to lift the ongoing obstacles to aid (see EUROPE 13699/2), and a famine was officially declared by the UN at the end of August (see EUROPE 13694/18), the Union remains divided between those Member States who are calling for firm measures and those who wish to favour EU dialogue as a lever of pressure.
Nevertheless, the option of dialogue, which has been used since the beginning of July by the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, to push the Israeli government into freeing up channels for the delivery of humanitarian aid, has thus far not brought about sufficient improvement for the Gazan civilian population (see EUROPE 13690/3).
At the Coreper meeting, the European Commission called for a qualified majority of Member States to rapidly adopt the proposal to partially suspend Israel’s participation in the Horizon Europe framework programme (see EUROPE 13690/2). The Danish Presidency of the EU Council has asked the EU Council and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to continue to reflect on targeted measures to be adopted by a qualified majority of the Council of the EU.
When contacted by Agence Europe on Wednesday, the EEAS gave no indication before the time of going to press of the direction that forthcoming discussions might take.
Offensive in Gaza City. According to AFP, a senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday that a “humanitarian zone” could be set up in the enclave to accommodate the “million” Palestinians fleeing Gaza City, which is being threatened by a major offensive. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)