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The EU's foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday that the bloc rejects plans to forcibly displace Gazans, as concern mounts over a ceasefire in the war-torn and violence escalates in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ms Kallas, also Vice President of the European Commission, was speaking in Brussels at the end of the first high-level talks between the bloc and Israel in two years, as the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.
"We support the return of every displaced Palestinian for whom Gaza is their home," she said. "We are closely watching developments and cannot hide our concern when it comes to the West Bank. The ceasefire is a real chance to break the cycle of violence."
Israel deployed tanks to the West Bank on Monday, triggering renewed fears that it plans to annex part of the area, which is supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state. Talk of annexation have been met with strong opposition from Palestinians and much of the international community, including the EU.
Discussions were "candid", Ms Kallas said, while Mr Saar said it was "OK to have differences in opinion". Asked to comment on Israeli tanks rolling into the West Bank for the first time in decades, Mr Saar said "military operations" were being launched in the area "against terrorists, and [there are] no other objectives but this one".
The meeting has been the subject of controversy amid a push by some EU countries to discuss Israel's compliance with a human rights clause included in the EU-Israel Association Agreement over its war in Gaza.
But there was no consensus for such a review and some EU foreign ministers warned ahead of the meeting that it would be unhelpful to heap criticism on Israel. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp cautioned against the meeting becoming a "tribunal in which we only criticise Israel".
Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement states that respect for human rights is an "essential element" of the accord. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner and a suspension of the agreement would be damaging for the Israeli economy.
Support for Gaza reconstruction
Mr Saar argued that Israel-EU relations should not be "held hostage to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". He added: "This approach will not give the European Union a strong and influential position, quite the opposite." Earlier in the day, he said there was no mention of a review of the human rights clause in the invitation letter sent to him by Ms Kallas.
The EU has also consistently pushed for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and wants a reformed Palestinian Authority to be involved in post-war Gaza governance – positions at odd with the current Israeli government and the US administration. "When the time comes, the EU will also support Gaza's reconstruction," Ms Kallas said.
The Israeli Foreign Minister accused the Palestinian Authority of not having "met its commitment to battle against terrorism" in line with the Oslo Accords. He claimed the Hamas-led attacks against his country on October 7, 2023 were the result of the "poisoning of Palestinian society".
In a draft statement viewed by The National regarding the meeting in Brussels, Israel's Foreign Ministry also renewed its attacks against the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Unlike Israel, the EU says it supports the ICC, though bloc leaders have been evasive about whether they would arrest Mr Netanyahu should he travel to their country. "In principle, the EU is supporting the ICC and the neutrality of it," Ms Kallas said.
But the Israeli Foreign Ministry also offered conciliatory remarks towards the EU. "Looking ahead, Israel remains committed to expanding and deepening its multifaceted co-operation with the EU, based on honest dialogue and mutual respect, where Israel's strategic contributions to Europe are fully recognised," read the draft statement.
Israel is aware that sympathies towards it vary within the EU but it is open to discussion, Mr Saar said. "Hungary and Czech Republic is not like Slovenia and Ireland when we are speaking about their attitude to Israel, but I've heard all the positions of all the member states, and I reacted to their position and their concerns about all the Israeli positions," he said.
Ahead of the meeting, Minister of State at the German Foreign Office, Tobias Lindner, said it was important to engage in dialogue "especially when you disagree". Responding to a question from The National, he said: "We need to ... enter into a discussion about the political future and reconstruction not only of Gaza but of the region as a whole, and the German government is committed to a negotiated two-state solution."
'Explanations needed'
Ireland, which had last year pushed for a review of the association agreement with Israel, said it welcomed Monday's meeting. Foreign Minister Simon Harris said: "It does give us an opportunity to raise a number of very important and pressing issues, including ensuring the full implementation of the ceasefire and also making it very clear that the EU’s position is very much in favour of a two-state solution."
His Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, struck a more offensive tone. "There are groups, such as human rights defenders, journalists, NGO members, members of the United Nations, members of UNRWA, who have perished under Israeli bombs in Gaza and that cannot be left unexplained," Mr Albares said.
He added that he would push to discuss human rights with Israel. "Article 2 will undoubtedly be very present in the meeting today," he said. "Of course, as I have indicated, respect for human rights will be the first point of my intervention and it must of course be a clear guide for the EU," Mr Albares said.
The EU's refusal to review the association agreement's human rights clause with Israel has drawn criticism from human rights groups. A statement from Agnes Bertrand-Sanz, Oxfam humanitarian expert, read: “The EU includes human rights clauses in its bilateral deals for a reason, yet with Israel these clauses seem optional. By having this meeting, the EU is signalling that it is business as usual. This is not diplomacy – this is complicity."
The latest Gaza war started when Hamas-led militants launched a cross-border attack on Israeli communities that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive has killed at least 48,300 people, Palestinian health authorities say, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in makeshift shelters and dependent on aid lorries for food delivery.
