The head of the EU foreign policy said that the block of 27 members was “divided” on how to put pressure on Israel to put an end to his mortal war against Gaza.
Posted on August 30, 2025
The foreign ministers of the whole of the European Union fought on the measures to be taken in response to the mortal war of Israel against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while the chief of the aid of the Bloc exhorted them to “find a strong voice which reflects our values and our principles”.
Ministers of the 27 EU Member States met in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to discuss the situation in Gaza, where the military assault of Israel has killed more than 63,000 people since October 2023.
The ministers also had to debate a proposal to suspend the funding of the EU for Israeli start-ups as an initial punitive action during the war of the country.
“It is clear that the Member States do not agree on how to bring the Israeli government to change course,” said EU foreign policy, Kaja Kallas before talks.
“I am not very optimistic, and today we are certainly not going to adopt decisions,” she said. “This sends a signal that we are divided.”
An increasing number of demonstrators have visited the streets through Europe in recent months to demand measures of their respective governments to put pressure on Israel to put an end to his war against Gaza, which experts have described as a genocide.
Many EU governments have strongly criticized the conduct of Israel during the war, especially on the death of Palestinian civilians and the restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the coastal enclave.
The outcry has intensified after a global hunger instructor supported by the United Nations said last week that he determined that there was famine in Gaza – a conclusion rejected by Israel despite overwhelming evidence.
But the EU has so far failed to agree on a driving line to put pressure on Israel to put an end to its bombing and its Gaza blocking.
Some Member States such as Spain and Ireland have called for economic borders and an embargo on arms against Israel while others, including Germany and Hungary, have rejected efforts to sanction the Israeli government.
Addressing Tel Aviv Tribune before the meeting on Saturday, the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, said that “doing nothing” did nothing, almost two years after the Gaza War. “The declaration time is therefore over. We have to move forward,” he said.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen urged the block to “find common ground” while calling for sanctions against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far -right coalition government.
“I do not reveal a secret by saying that we have to change words into sanctions,” said Rasmussen. “Denmark is ready to suspend the commercial chapter of the association’s agreement and has put sanctions to the government of Netanyahu and certain ministers of its government.”
The EU executive organization proposed last month to limit Israeli access to an EU research financing program, but the initiative has so far not found enough support from the Member States.
Countries like France, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland have shown support for the proposal, but others, like Germany and Italy, have not supported it so far, according to diplomats.
Reporting from Copenhagen as the foreign ministers held their talks on Saturday, the Hachem Ahelbarra of Tel Aviv Tribune said that the failure to reach a consensus comes in the middle of a “change of mood in the streets of Europe”.
“More and more people through Europe say that the EU has not kept the promises it has made with regard to the protection of humanitarian law and human rights,” said Ahelbarra, adding that the EU has “a huge political and financial lever effect on Israel”.
“There is enormous pressure on them to deliver,” he said.
Hadja Lahbib, the European Crisis Management Commissioner, who oversees the EU humanitarian aid, said earlier this week that he was “time for the EU to find a collective voice on Gaza”.
Addressing journalists in Brussels, she refused to specify the action she thought was taken, but clearly indicated that she wanted more pressure on Israel.
“What is happening there haunts me and should haunt us all,” she said about Gaza. “Because it is a tragedy. And we will be judged by history. “
