Israel’s relationship with the European Union should not be “held hostage” by its conflict with Palestinians, the Israeli foreign minister has said.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar told a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that Israel was a “great trade partner” for Europe.
Several EU states used the opportunity to raise concerns over the actions of Israel during its 15-month war on Gaza, which has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The invasion and bombing campaign was launched in response to the October 7th, 2023, Hamas-led attack in southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israel.
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Israel would consider resuming its military campaign and bombardment of Gaza if Hamas and other militant groups in the Palestinian enclave failed to completely disarm, Mr Sa’ar said. Talk of rebuilding Gaza the “day after” the end of the war could only take place when Hamas and another militant group in the territory, Islamic Jihad, were removed, he said.
Speaking after the meeting, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, said the bloc could not hide its concern over the recent violence in the West Bank, where Israel was carrying out military operations.
“The ceasefire is a real chance to break the cycle of violence ... Ministers today stressed that there can be no other solution than the two-state solution,” she said.
Israel was not afraid of criticism, but this should not descend into comments demonising the state, Mr Sa’ar said. “Of course there are different positions of different European countries; Hungary, Czech Republic, is not like Slovenia and Ireland when we are speaking about their attitude to Israel,” he said.
[ Uncertainty over Ukraine war sees Gaza slip off EU agendaOpens in new window ]
Speaking earlier, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said any suggestion of the “involuntary displacement” of Palestinian people from their homeland in Gaza was an “appalling vista” that could not be contemplated.
US president Donald Trump has said his country could “take over” Gaza, relocate the Palestinian population and then redevelop the land.
[ European states say any forced relocation of Palestinians ‘unacceptable’Opens in new window ]
Plans to facilitate the voluntary relocation of Palestinians to other states would not be “enforced displacement”, Mr Sa’ar said.
Mr Harris said the Government still supported the call for the EU to review its “association agreement” with Israel, which governs trade and bilateral relations between the two.
Early last year Spain and Ireland jointly called for the agreement to be reviewed, to see if Israel’s actions in Gaza contravened commitments in the deal to respect human rights.
Ireland and several other EU states had pushed for a meeting of the EU-Israel “association council”, which took place on Monday, to raise objections to Israel’s actions during its military campaign in Gaza.
