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Quoted By: >>1433557
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/09/10/von-der-leyen-announces-suspension-of-eu-payments-and-trade-partnership-with-israel
The EU will suspend its "bilateral support" with Israel and partially suspend the trade parts of its association agreement with Tel Aviv, Von der Leyen told MEPs during her State of the Union speech.
In an unusually tough-worded sequence, von der Leyen denounced a "man-made famine" in Gaza and "a clear attempt" by Israel to "undermine the two-state solution". But she also called Europe's inability to find a response to Israel's actions in Gaza "painful".
"What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable," von der Leyen said. "Europe must lead the way just as it has done before."
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, many of them civilians. While Hamas is holding 50 hostages, a subsequent Israeli offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
To end Europe's paralysis on Gaza, von der Leyen proposed to "put its bilateral support to Israel on hold", with a suspension of "all payments" to the country, except for helping the Yad Vashem's World Holocaust Remembrance Center and other civil society projects. She also called for the partial suspension of the bloc's association agreement with Israel "on trade-related measures".
The EU will suspend its "bilateral support" with Israel and partially suspend the trade parts of its association agreement with Tel Aviv, Von der Leyen told MEPs during her State of the Union speech.
In an unusually tough-worded sequence, von der Leyen denounced a "man-made famine" in Gaza and "a clear attempt" by Israel to "undermine the two-state solution". But she also called Europe's inability to find a response to Israel's actions in Gaza "painful".
"What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable," von der Leyen said. "Europe must lead the way just as it has done before."
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, many of them civilians. While Hamas is holding 50 hostages, a subsequent Israeli offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
To end Europe's paralysis on Gaza, von der Leyen proposed to "put its bilateral support to Israel on hold", with a suspension of "all payments" to the country, except for helping the Yad Vashem's World Holocaust Remembrance Center and other civil society projects. She also called for the partial suspension of the bloc's association agreement with Israel "on trade-related measures".
