European meeting discusses measures against Israel over its violations in Gaza

European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss proposed measures against Israel to punish it for human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, but diplomats say none of them are likely to be adopted.

In remarks ahead of the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaya Kallas called on Israel to take concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Callas said the focus now must be on implementing commitments, not just agreeing on paper.

She added that the European Union is prepared to use political options if Israel does not abide by its commitments.

The Brussels meeting comes as Gaza is witnessing a major escalation of Israeli bombardment and catastrophic conditions for the besieged population.

The European Union is divided over the position to take regarding Israel's violations in Gaza. Some member states, including Germany, support what they describe as Israel's right to self-defense, while others, such as Spain, condemn what they describe as genocide against Palestinians in the Strip.

Implementation of the agreement

However, EU foreign ministers are expected to reach a consensus in Brussels today on the need for full implementation of the agreement to increase aid to Gaza, according to European diplomats.

Last Thursday, Kallas announced that the Europeans had reached an agreement with Israel to improve aid access to Gaza.

Ahead of the European foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on his Twitter account that Tel Aviv had achieved what he called a significant diplomatic accomplishment by successfully repelling what he described as the obsessive attempts by a number of countries to impose sanctions against Israel in the European Union.

A report prepared by the European Commission and submitted to the 27 EU member states in late June confirmed that Israel had violated Article 2 of the Association Agreement binding it with the European Union regarding respect for human rights.

Based on the report, Callas prepared a list of possible options, such as suspending the agreement completely, banning exports from the occupied Palestinian territories, reviewing the visa policy, or even suspending the trade portion of the partnership agreement.