Following a meeting with the Palestinian Ambassador to the EU in Brussels, the European Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Federations* reiterate their call for more decisive and principled action by the European Union on Gaza.
We welcome the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, including the statement that “recognition and realization of the State of Palestine are an essential and indispensable component of the achievement of the two-State solution“.
In line with the Statement of the ITUC and the Global Unions, we fully support the growing commitment of governments to recognize the State of Palestine.
We call on the EU and on all countries to take this vital step towards achieving a democratic and sovereign Palestine, recognised by the international community, living in just and lasting peace alongside a secure Israel.
We express our strongest condemnation of the recent additional large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli government, as well as of the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. Any annexation or settlement extension actions violate international law.
We recall that the International Criminal Court has stated that the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. We also recall the legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
We reiterate the necessity for the EU to use all tools available to bring about an immediate and lasting ceasefire, to put an immediate end to ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to ensure full, unimpeded, and sustained access for humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
We therefore call once more on the European Union and its member states to:
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Act on its own assessment and findings of violations, and advance immediate trade sanctions, including the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement;
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End all trade and economic relations with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. These settlements are illegal under international law, as reaffirmed by numerous UN resolutions. The EU must enforce a ban on the import of goods and services originating from these settlements and on export to such territories, ensuring that European markets are not complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights and the ongoing annexation of land.
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To restore and increase funding to UNRWA but also to the Palestinian Authority, so that its workers can receive their salaries.
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To not criminalise workers that have taken part in the many protests in support of Palestine and refused to process consignments of weapons destined to Israel.
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To adopt sanctions, on violent settlers but also on the most extremist ministers of the Israeli government who incite violence, and to suspend Horizon funding to Israel and put bilateral support to Israel on hold.
As representatives of working people, we urge the Commission to take these immediate steps in accordance with EU law, international humanitarian law, and the shared values that underpin the European project. We call on the EU to use all measures available to push for a just and lasting resolution to the conflict, based on a two-State solution and grounded in international law and the principles of peace, justice, and equality. We condemn forced displacement, a war crime, and we join the calls for the release of all hostages.
The time for warnings and statements is long gone, the EU must take decisive and immediate action. The European Union’s legal and moral responsibility to act has never been more urgent.
