EU: "Israel Must Do More"

Israel must do more for those in need in Gaza, urge both Sweden and the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.

EU foreign ministers discussed on Tuesday the agreement for more urgent aid to Gaza that Kallas reached with Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last week.

– We see some positive signals. We see that more trucks and supplies are reaching Gaza. But Israel must take more concrete actions to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground, says Kallas at the press conference afterwards.

Several countries are pushing for tougher EU measures against Israel. There are calls to pause or even completely terminate the EU's economic-political cooperation agreement with the country.

No Unanimity?

However, even to pause requires complete unanimity among EU countries. Currently, this is far off, considering the strong support Israel continues to have from countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic.

– I do not consider it realistic at all to believe that there could be unanimity behind such a decision, and I also think it is important to maintain forms of dialogue with Israel, says Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) on the phone to TT.

She did not participate in Tuesday's meeting but emphasizes keeping the pressure up, for example, through sanctions against individual Israeli ministers who "actively oppose" a two-state solution.

Decisions May Be Delayed

Kallas presented various options for EU measures to member countries on Tuesday and promises regular reports every other week on what Israel has fulfilled.

Decisions on EU measures may be delayed until autumn, at the next regular meeting for foreign ministers.

But it depends on the situation.

– We never take a vacation. The discussion about the situation in Gaza is ongoing even between council meetings. If necessary, we will set up extra meetings to be able to act, says Maria Malmer Stenergard.