Rabat – Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland have urged the European Union to debate suspending its association agreement with Israel, saying the bloc can no longer remain “on the sidelines” as conditions worsen in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon.
In a letter sent last week to the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the three governments said Israel had taken measures that “contravene human rights and violate international law and international humanitarian law,” breaching the 1995 agreement governing political, economic, and trade ties with the EU.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the three countries had formally requested that the issue be added to the agenda.
“Spain, along with Slovenia and Ireland, has requested that the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel be discussed and debated today,” Albares said.
“I expected every European country to uphold what the International Court of Justice and the UN say on human rights and the defense of international law. Anything different would be a defeat for the European Union,” he added.
The joint letter said repeated appeals to Israel to change course had been ignored. It highlighted a proposed Israeli law that would impose the death penalty by hanging on Palestinians convicted in military courts, calling it “a grave violation of fundamental human rights” and part of a pattern of “systemic persecution, oppression, violence, and discrimination.”
The ministers also pointed to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing conditions in the war-torn Palestinian enclave as “unbearable” amid continued ceasefire violations by the IDF and limited aid access.
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Violence in the occupied West Bank was also intensifying, they said, with settlers acting “with absolute impunity” alongside ongoing Israeli military operations that have caused civilian deaths.
“The European Union can no longer remain on the sidelines,” the letter said, calling for “bold and immediate action” and urging that all options remain under consideration.
The three countries argued Israel was in breach of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which conditions ties on respect for human rights. They noted that an earlier EU review had found Israel was failing to meet those obligations and said the situation had worsened since.
At a donor conference in Brussels, Kallas said the estimated cost of rebuilding Gaza had risen to $71 billion.
Efforts by Ireland and Spain to push for a review of the agreement in 2024 failed to gain sufficient support among member states. A later Dutch-led initiative triggered an EU assessment, which concluded Israel had “likely” breached its obligations. Possible trade measures were discussed but not implemented after Israel pledged to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Separately, Ireland is seeking to revive its Occupied Territories Bill. First introduced in 2018, the bill would ban trade in goods and services from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Progress has stalled despite unanimous backing in the lower house of parliament.
Spain and Slovenia have taken steps to curb such trade. Slovenia banned imports of goods from Israeli-occupied territories in August last year, while Spain introduced a similar ban that came into force at the start of 2026.
All three countries formally recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024 in what was widely seen as a coordinated move to increase pressure for a two-state solution.