Dear President von der Leyen,
Dear High Representative Borrell,
Dear Foreign Ministers of the EU member states,
We write to you as the hostilities in Israel and Palestine have been raging for over nine months, and amid concrete risks of spillovers that could bring further suffering and destruction to the region. You have swiftly and rightly denounced and acted upon Palestinian armed groups’ war crimes, including the attacks in Israel that led to the killing of over 1,100 people on October 7, the taking of hostages, and indiscriminate rocket attacks. Regrettably, you have yet to collectively acknowledge, denounce, and adopt appropriate measures to address the Israeli authorities’ war crimes and other international humanitarian law (IHL) violations, some of which have led to the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The death toll in Gaza since October 7 is approaching 40,000 people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Nearly 90,000 more have been injured, and struggle to receive adequate healthcare as Israeli forces have damaged or destroyed hospitals, targeted healthcare and aid workers, and blocked imports of medical goods and evacuations of patients.
About 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip have been displaced, many of them repeatedly. While Israel has stated that temporary evacuation is reversible, UN officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have expressed their concerns that the evacuation orders may violate IHL and risk the war crime of forced displacement, given the extensive destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure.
People in Gaza are being deliberately starved and collectively punished as Israeli authorities are using starvation as a method of warfare, severely and arbitrarily restricting food, water, fuel, electricity, and humanitarian access. There is mounting evidence that the actions of the Israeli army are rendering large parts of the Strip unlivable, and massive reconstruction efforts will be required to enable Palestinians to return to their previous lives.
These developments are in flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under IHL and of three binding rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued in the case brought by South Africa against Israel for alleged violations of the UN Genocide Convention.
On May 20, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders and two senior Israeli officials, on various counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The request is pending before the court's judges. We welcome the clear statements by the High Representative and some EU governments highlighting the need to respect the court's decisions and independence. At the same time, we regret that other EU member states spoke out against the prosecutor's request. Member states should express support for the ICC's critical role to deliver justice for victims in the context of the investigation in Palestine and across the court's docket, regardless of where the crimes are committed and by whom.
We recall the June 2023 Council conclusions on the ICC, and the supportive role the EU has collectively played for the court and its activities, including most recently in the context of the ICC’s investigation in Ukraine and following the arrest warrants issued against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and other Russian high-level officials. The same level of support should be provided to all situations under investigation by the ICC, including Palestine. As outlined in more detail below, the EU and its member states should consistently support the ICC's work, respect the court's independence and abide by its decisions, and push back against efforts to undermine its independence and mandate.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians continue to live the harsh, daily reality of occupation, apartheid and persecution. There is a growing consensus among legal experts that Israeli authorities are committing the crime of apartheid, a conclusion reached by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, UN experts, academics, governments, former foreign ministers of EU member states and many others.
In the West Bank, since October 7, more than 520 Palestinians have been killed, 5,400 injured, and 2,400 displaced by military operations including home demolitions, with more than 1,200 displaced by settler-led violence. Israeli forces either actively take part in settler attacks or fail to protect Palestinians, as documented in an April report by Human Rights Watch. Fourteen Israelis, including nine members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians and at least 105 Israelis, including about 90 members of Israeli forces, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The EU and member states continue to denounce violence, mass demolitions and expansion of settlements in the West Bank, but their calls continue to be ignored by Israeli authorities. The two rounds of designations of a total of nine violent settlers and five entities under the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime are steps in the right direction, but many more should follow, including against Israeli officials enabling and supporting violence and dispossession and depriving people of their basic rights
Thousands of Palestinians, including scores of women and children, are arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities, often in reportedly horrendous conditions. According to human rights experts and groups, including Israeli NGOs, Palestinians are routinely subject to torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment, including sexual violence. Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, publicly brags about his efforts to worsen their detention conditions, including implementing the death penalty. We welcome the European Council’s call on Israeli authorities to grant the ICRC access to places of detention, and urge persuasive efforts to ensure that call is urgently heeded. Israeli authorities also hold 3,379 Palestinians in administrative detention, without charge or trial based on secret information, as of July 1, according to Israeli Prison Services figures. This figure marks a three-decade high, according to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked.
Finally, we are increasingly concerned about the military escalation across the Israel-Lebanon border. Human Rights Watch has documented Israel’s widespread use of airburst white phosphorus munitions in populated areas in south Lebanon, which is unlawful under IHL, in addition to unlawful attacks on aid workers and apparently indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilians. Since October 2023, the Israeli military has killed more than 490 people in Lebanon, including 95 civilians, according to media reports, and Hezbollah has killed at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians in north Israel. The risks of unlawful attacks and of destruction of civilian infrastructure comparable to those in Gaza are extremely concrete, and the EU should spare no effort to ensure compliance with IHL and prevent further humanitarian catastrophes.
We welcome the EU’s repeated, unequivocal condemnation of the crimes committed during the October 7 attacks – which Human Rights Watch is reporting on – and its continued call for the unconditional release of civilian hostages held by Palestinian armed groups, condemnation of attacks by Palestinian armed groups against Israel, and adoption of concrete measures, including targeted sanctions, against those responsible for ongoing abuses.
At the same time, we are dismayed at the persistent efforts by some member states to prevent the adoption of EU positions that acknowledge and condemn the Israeli authorities’ war crimes, other IHL violations, and human rights abuses in Gaza, and the adoption of appropriate and persuasive EU measures to address them, such as targeted sanctions, suspension of arms transfers, and a review and possible suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The EU faces growing and well-grounded accusations of double standards, notably from governments in the so-called “Global South” and from civil society groups and human rights experts, who are calling on the EU to go beyond slogans and generic statements of concern, condemn war crimes and other IHL violations, and adopt effective and persuasive measures to address them. The double standards on Israel and Palestine are harming the EU’s reputation as a global champion of human rights and international law and are all the more concerning at a time of growing instability and attacks against the international rules-based order and human rights system, including by other global powers.
While aware of persistent, sharp divisions among EU member states, we urge you all to recognize the wider implications of the EU’s double standards, overcome differences, and adopt positions and measures rooted in human rights and IHL that adequately reflect the tragic reality on the ground, and pursue accountability for atrocity crimes being committed.
In particular, we urge you to:
- Unequivocally and publicly recognize and condemn the Israeli authorities’ war crimes, other IHL violations and rights abuses in Gaza and in the West Bank, both before and since October 7, and demand accountability. In particular, urge the Israeli authorities to:
- Stop deliberately blocking the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance in and throughout Gaza, including items related to water, food, fuel, medicines and other items, and urgently open additional land crossings, in compliance with the ICJ rulings and with their IHL obligations as occupying power;
- Halt all unlawful attacks against civilians and civilian objects humanitarian personnel and premises, journalists, hospitals, schools and other categories protected under IHL;
- End any abuse, including torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment, against Palestinian detainees, immediately grant the ICRC and UN humanitarian and human rights bodies unfettered access to all places of detention, and ensure that all detainees’ rights are fully respected, including fair trial guarantees, and that those responsible for abuses are held to account;
- Take appropriate and long-overdue measures, such as targeted sanctions, the suspension of arms transfers, and a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement with a view to possibly suspend it in whole or in part, to meaningfully press Israeli authorities to halt their crimes and comply with their IHL and human rights obligations;
- Continue to call for and support efforts towards the release of hostages held by Palestinian armed groups, and sustain pressure on Palestinian armed groups to end unlawful indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure;
- Step up political and financial support for UNRWA, the ICRC and other humanitarian actors that continue to provide life-saving aid throughout Gaza and in the region, often at great risk;
- Unequivocally express support for the role of the International Criminal Court in the situation of Palestine and across the court's docket, and make clear that EU member states will abide by the court's decisions, including by fulfilling their arrest obligations and avoiding non-essential contacts with those sought by the ICC. Publicly condemn threats and attacks against the ICC, its officials and those cooperating with it, and be prepared to use concrete tools, such as the EU blocking statute or other mechanisms, to minimize the impact of potential sanctions or other measures aimed at thwarting the work of the court;
- Support other efforts towards accountability for the serious crimes committed by all parties to the conflict, including calling for unfettered access for UN and other independent monitors, and prosecuting those responsible under the principle of universal jurisdiction;
- Ban trade with illegal settlements, as it risks complicity in IHL violations and entrenches the human rights abuses that stem from settlements, including violence and killings, land confiscation, natural resource exploitation, and displacement of and discrimination against the Palestinian population;
- Address the root-causes of recurring gross human rights abuses and atrocity crimes in Israel and Palestine, including persistent impunity, prolonged occupation, the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution, unlawful demolitions and the expansion of illegal settlements, and ensure that accountability and reparation for abuses are part of any peace process and negotiated solution the EU may be pursuing.
As discussions on these pressing matters continue among EU governments and institutions and a new meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council is considered, we once again encourage each individual EU member state not to hide behind consensus and to issue statements, support accountability and humanitarian actors, and adopt measures in line with the recommendations listed above whenever possible.
We stand ready to discuss these issues with you any time.
Yours sincerely,
Bruno Stagno Ugarte
Chief Advocacy Officer, Human Rights Watch
