Stop the massacre in Gaza

Although nothing seems to stop Benjamin Netanyahu, the international community cannot remain in the loop of rhetorical condemnation of the Israeli army's indiscriminate attacks on Gaza.

After 28,000 deaths, tens of thousands of wounded and hundreds of thousands of refugees, the Strip could once again become the scene of a tragedy if the announced military offensive on Rafah, in the south of the territory, is consummated.

As it did in northern Gaza following the savage Hamas attack on October 7, the Israeli Army has ordered civilians to leave Rafah.

With the precedent of what happened in the North, everyone is aware of what will come next: the border area, where according to UNRWA – the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – two thirds of the 1,700,000 displaced people are crowded, can be destroyed.

Unlike, however, what happened in the northern half, its inhabitants and those who have arrived there fleeing the bombings no longer have anywhere to flee: the hermetic border with Egypt blocks their way.

Some indications suggest, however, that the announced Israeli military action may have very different consequences from the diplomatic impunity that the Netanyahu Government has enjoyed until now: Egypt has warned of the threat that the exodus to its territory of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the United States—which has already imposed sanctions on West Bank settlers—doubles its efforts, with Cairo as the setting, to achieve a new truce.

Discontent with the Israeli president among Western foreign ministries is permeating even among countries that until now have supported him without fissures.

Thus, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, of the Green party, reminded Israel on Tuesday before her Palestinian counterpart that the fight is against terrorism “and not against the innocent civilian population.”

The initiative taken this Wednesday by Spain and Ireland is situated in this context.

Through a letter signed by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Irish Prime Minister, the Christian Democrat Leo Varadkar - whose formation, Fine Gael, is part of the European People's Party -, both countries demanded that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the review of the EU association agreement with Israel due to possible violations of international law.

According to this agreement, in force since 2000, the Union considers the Israeli State as one of its main partners in the region: 31.9% of Israel's imports came from the Twenty-Seven and 25.6% of exports from that country. They headed to the EU.

In their letter, the Spanish and Irish leaders recall that, as stated in the agreement itself, trade is part of political relations based on the fact that both parties share democratic values ​​and respect for human rights, a respect also demanded last month by the International Court of The Hague.

The Commission will have to draft an opinion that could lead to the stoppage or suspension of the agreement.

It is difficult for Europe to follow the path of unity regarding the Gaza war or for Netanyahu to give in to a request that does not come from the United States, but the Spanish-Irish proposal represents a qualitative leap in international criticism of the indiscriminate actions of the troops. Israelis: after months of rhetoric, proposes a concrete measure to try to stop the massacre in Gaza.