By Melike Pala
BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Union should maintain pressure on Israel to end human rights violations regardless of the ceasefire situation in the Gaza Strip, a senior Human Rights Watch (HRW) official said Friday.
Claudio Francavilla, associate director for EU advocacy at HRW, urged the EU not to withdraw its proposed sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers or halt discussions to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
"Caving to that pressure would be yet another blow to the EU's credibility and to hopes for human rights and justice," Francavilla said in a statement.
He noted that several EU member states had already taken unilateral action in response to "Israel's escalating atrocities," although they fell short of their obligations under the UN Genocide Convention.
Francavilla cited Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich as key figures opposing the ceasefire deal, accusing them of promoting "ethnic cleansing and other egregious abuses" against Palestinians.
The UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway have imposed sanctions on those ministers, while some EU governments declared them "persona non grata.” But the EU as a bloc has failed to take similar action due to a lack of unanimity among member states.
He criticized the EU's inaction on suspending the trade pillar of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, despite Israel’s breach of Article 2, which makes respect for human rights an essential condition of the deal.
Francavilla emphasized that the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 ruling found Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories unlawful, marked by "serious abuses, including apartheid," adding, "Ceasefire or not, those egregious abuses persist and are incompatible with the agreement’s human rights clause."
The ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas last week, based on a plan presented by US President Donald Trump. Phase one included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. It also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
He urged the EU to suspend the trade deal and adopt targeted sanctions in line with the September 2025 New York Declaration on the two-state solution, pointing out that despite broad EU support for the declaration and the recognition of Palestine by several members, few have followed up with concrete steps.
"Rather than easing pressure now, the EU should act on its own findings, uphold international law, and end the impunity that fuels Israel's past and ongoing crimes," he said.
In September, the European Commission announced plans to downgrade trade relations with Israel and impose sanctions on extremist Israeli Cabinet ministers and violent settlers for human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, marking a significant shift in the bloc's policy toward Tel Aviv.
EU foreign ministers will meet Oct. 20 in Luxembourg, chaired by the foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, to discuss the war in Ukraine and other foreign policy issues, as well as the latest developments in the Middle East.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.