The population of Gaza has suffered indefensible horrors for the past eighteen months. The US-brokered ceasefire in January offered a glimmer of hope that 2025 might mark a new phase of peace and reconstruction, and the release of all Israeli hostages. But this has been extinguished by fresh Israeli assaults on civilian targets including hospitals, the total blockade of aid into Gaza, and escalating repression and settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Europe needs to speak out firmly in favour of a principled approach to resolving the conflict that guarantees the security and rights of Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Above all, it must affirm with one voice that any talk of forced relocation or mass displacement of Gaza’s civilian population is abhorrent, unacceptable and contrary to established international law and all notions of human dignity.
The conflict will only end when its root causes are addressed, and solutions that are rooted in the principles of universal human rights are in place. Europe has a critical role to play in this regard, at a time when other major powers are adopting a more transactional approach to foreign policy.
We welcome the ambition of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, for Europe to lead in the global defence of freedom and human rights. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a litmus test for this ambition and whether rhetoric can be translated into principles-based action.
It is clear that there can be no return to the status quo in Palestine and Israel before the appalling terrorist attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023. That status quo was shaped by the international community’s failure over decades to deliver on the promise of ending Israeli occupation, security for both peoples, and realising a two-state solution.
Today’s reality demands an honest assessment of the risks and choices ahead, and the implications for Europe’s own place in the world. Repeating tired mantras of “supporting a two-state solution” without using leverage against parties on the ground who are actively undermining it – including the Governments of Israel and Iran, and Palestinian extremists who deny Israel’s right to exist – will only expose European impotence.
Let us be clear: the Government of Israel is continuing to pursue an unlawful, permanent occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory, based on expansion of illegal settlements, systemic discrimination and the subjugation of one people by another. These policies predated the 7 October attacks but have been turbo-charged since. Repeated terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians do not justify these actions.
Israel’s legislation and measures constitute a breach of its international obligations on racial segregation and apartheid.
If they are serious about upholding international law and a rules-based system to address matters of global peace and security, European leaders must take active, irreversible steps to end Israel’s unlawful occupation and realise the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
This must come through a form of statehood that delivers true sovereignty on equal terms with Israel. We are proud that our countries, Ireland and Norway, have already recognised the State of Palestine together with their partners in Spain and Slovenia, bringing to 11 the number of EU member states which have done so. We are also encouraged by recent reports that President Macron of France may announce a similar decision at a summit in June. But these actions need to be concerted and coordinated, including the remaining EU member states and other countries, including the United Kingdom.
And the process does not stop with formal recognition. For a two-state solution to work, both Israel and Palestine must be able to exercise full security control over their respective territories and borders.
European states must be prepared to use their diplomatic and economic leverage to ensure this takes place on both sides, and that the security of Palestinians and Israelis is given equal weighting.
For too long, the security of the occupying power, Israel, has been prioritised over the security of Palestinians. This has been obvious in the continuous flow of US arms to Israel, even as it continues to violate international law.
If we have learned anything from the past 18 months of slaughter, it is that political actors exist on both sides of the conflict who reject and are actively undermining prospects for a two-state solution. Systematic violations of international law continue to be driven by ideology and impunity.
European leaders and the international community at large must make it clear that targeted measures and sanctions will be applied in response to systematic violations of international law, whether perpetrated by state or non-state actors.
The independence and integrity of the institutions charged with upholding international law, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, must also be respected and defended without any partiality.
When European leaders support the ICC’s arrest warrant for President Putin over Russia’s war on Ukraine, they have a responsibility to apply the same standards to other conflicts, including the warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, Europe’s own bloody past should compel its leaders to use their considerable power in the service of peace, justice and human rights. If they rise to the challenge now, they can be a beacon to the world in a dark and unpredictable era.
This article is published with the support of the PA International Foundation.
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