Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Monday, June 23rd, that he will ask the EU Council today suspend the European Union’s association agreement with Israel and back an arms embargo in response to the “human rights violations” in Gaza.
Albares said he also intends to call on the EU foreign ministers’ Council today to impose targeted sanctions against individuals deemed to be obstructing efforts toward a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
“These steps are necessary to uphold the EU’s commitment to human rights and to international law,” Albares said, adding that the situation in Gaza requires a unified and decisive European response.
Spain is not the only Member State pushing for “punishing” Israel. Belgium is leading a group of European Union member states to push Brussels into ending all trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The initiative, revealed in a leaked letter, is backed by Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
