While the IDF has been massacring the civilian population of Gaza and colonizing the Gaza Strip for a year and a half, supposedly to fight Hamas, the West has only just become aware of what is going on. Unfortunately, there’s nothing honorable about this sudden burst of humanity: the European Union and the Israeli opposition are merely reacting to the MAGA U-turn in the United States [1]. They still don’t support South Africa’s complaint to the International Court of Justice and, for the most part, are still reluctant to recognize a Palestinian state.

• The only notable exception is Spain, which has been trying for a year to halt the massacre and torture. President of the Spanish government Pedro Sánchez called on 17 May to put pressure on Israel to stop the massacre of Gazan civilians. He mentioned all kinds of pressures, including symbolic ones such as exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Spanish Parliament adopted on 20 May a proposal tabled by left-wing and nationalist parties calling for a ban on the sale of arms to Israel, because of what they describe as a "genocidal war" against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.

The Madrid Group will meet on May 25. It has already met five times and includes Spain, Norway, Slovenia and Ireland on the European side, and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar and Bahrain on the Arab-Islamic side.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the situation in Gaza as "unsustainable, unbearable, inhumane. The EU must do everything possible to put an end to it. There are thousands of trucks stuck behind the borders waiting. It is European funds that have financed this humanitarian aid and it must reach the people."

• The United Kingdom, which has consistently provided military support to the IDF and secretly received senior Israeli military leaders, suspended its free trade negotiations with Israel on May 20 and imposed sanctions on West Bank settlers, less than a day after promising "concrete actions" if Israel did not end its new military offensive in Gaza.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "History will judge them. Block help. Extend the war. Ignoring the concerns of your friends and partners. It’s indefensible. And this must stop."

• Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg and Minister of Foreign Affairs Xavier Bettel told the European Council: "We must tell the Israelis that there are situations where there are no more words, no more justifications, no more excuses, and that is why we must analyze the association agreement, so that the European Commission can verify whether human rights are still respected. We can no longer close our eyes. We have humanitarian aid that is no longer coming in. If people don’t die from a bomb, they die of starvation or lack of care."

• Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas commented: "In the meantime, it is up to Israel to release humanitarian aid. Saving lives must be our top priority. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic; The aid provided is just a drop in the ocean. Humanitarian aid must arrive immediately. Urgent and sustained pressure is essential to bring about real change."

• 17 EU Member States have called for the revision of the Association Agreement with Israel (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), Latvia said it was neutral and 9 opposed (Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus).

• The European Council appointed Christophe Bigot of France to represent it in the Middle East peace process. Former France ambassador to Israel, Mr. Bigot was director of the French DGSE (General Directorate for External Security) during the war against Syria.

• Finally, in an interview on public radio on May 20, president of the Labour Party Yair Golan expressed concern about seeing Israel "become a pariah state among nations, like the South Africa of yesteryear, unless it backtracks and acts like a healthy country." That is, a country that "does not engage in combat against civilians, does not consider it a hobby to kill babies, does not set itself the goal of expelling a population."

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°134. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.

Translation
Gregor Fröhlich

     

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[1] “Donald Trump Decouples the United States from Israel”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Voltaire Network, 13 May 2025.