Some 63 members of the European Parliament have urged E.U. foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to suspend the main treaty between the EU and Israel, the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
"Amnesty International and Palestinian organizations have documented that Israel deliberately targeted civilians and committed other war crimes during its recent onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza," the MEP's wrote in a letter, while calling on the commission "to consider the suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel unless Israel takes substantial and immediate steps to bring its conduct in line with international law."
Regarding Palestine's drive for statehood and the International Criminal Court (ICC) bid, the gap between Israel and the European Union has further widened. By joining the ICC, Palestine aims to bring human rights violations and war crimes committed by Israeli troops to the court, since Israeli actions remain unpunished, despite reports by the U.N. and independent non-governmental organizations that have shown that Israel has committed war crimes on several occasions.
In response to Israel's reluctant commitment to a two-state solution to solve the long-lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict, more European countries have been giving considerable attention to the worsening situation of the Palestinians, who continue to face hostility from Israel. France, Ireland, Britain, Spain and Belgium, called for the recognition of Palestine as a state. However, all European moves so far have been symbolic. Sweden is the only European country that officially recognizes Palestinian statehood.
The European Union also proposed sanctions over Israel's aggressive attitude towards the occupied Palestinian territory. The sanctions include European companies that work with Israeli businesses being prohibited from establishing buildings in Jewish settlement projects in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.
