Irish leader Michael Martin decries Europe’s inability to pressure Israel to stop ‘continuing slaughter of children’.
By Al Jazeera Staff
Jun 26, 2025
Thursday’s summit noted a report issued last week by the bloc’s diplomatic service, which found that Israel was likely flouting human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association agreement. Yet, the bloc stopped short of acting on the assessment or ditching the 25-year-old accord.
“The European Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, leading to a permanent end to hostilities,” the EU said in a statement.
Amid growing accusations – backed by rights groups and United Nations experts – that Israel is starving people in Gaza, the EU ordered a review of its association agreement with Israel in May. The assessment, sent to member states last week, was restricted.
But several media outlets quoted informed diplomats as saying that the findings highlighted Israel’s blockade on Gaza, the killing of civilians, attacks on hospitals and mass displacement of Palestinians in the territory, as well as the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
With a growing chasm between countries critical of Israeli abuses, such as Ireland and Spain, and Israel-backers Germany and Hungary, the summit’s conclusions on Thursday featured an attenuated statement that deplored “the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation” in Gaza.
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Pedro Sanchez of Spain labels Israel’s mass killings of Palestinians in Gaza as ‘genocide’
Sanchez becomes most prominent EU leader to accurately describe situation in Gaza as ‘genocide’, urging European Union to immediately suspend its association deal with Tel Aviv
Jun 27, 2005
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described the situation in Palestine’s Gaza as a “genocide”, marking the strongest language yet from a European leader over Israel’s mass slaughter campaign in the besieged territory.
“Gaza is in a catastrophic situation of genocide,” Sanchez said ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
He called on the European Union to immediately suspend its association agreement with Israel, citing a report that said there were indications Israel was breaching its human rights obligations.
Sanchez’s comments came as rescuers said at least 76 people had been killed by Israeli forces, amid continuing attacks and extreme shortages of food and medicine.
Continuous support for Palestine
Sanchez has been among the most vocal critics of Israel’s genocide, but this is the first time he has explicitly used the term.
The Israeli embassy in Madrid condemned the remarks, accusing Sanchez of “demonising” Israel and placing Spain “on the wrong side of history.”
The Spanish government summoned the Israeli charge d’affaires in response, calling the reaction “unacceptable.”
Last May, Spain formally recognised Palestine as an independent state, alongside Ireland and Norway — a move Sanchez described as “historic” and consistent with international law.
He said the step aimed to support peace, not target any party, and reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.
Aid workers report dozens killed
Gaza’s civil defence agency meanwhile said Israeli forces had killed at least 76 people on Thursday alone.
Mohammad al Mughair, the director of medical supplies in the agency, said the toll came amid increasing Israeli violence around aid distribution points.
More than 56,000 Palestinians — mostly civilians — have been killed in Gaza since October, according to health officials in the territory.
The UN recognises the health ministry’s figures as credible.
Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine’s official WAFA news agency.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
Gaza’s population of over two million faces widespread hunger after nearly nine months of attacks and blockades by Israel.
While Israel began allowing limited aid into the territory in late May, the UN and rights groups say food and medicine remain scarce and distribution is chaotic, with frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on civilians gathering for rations.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has killed nearly 550 people near aid distribution points since late May.
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