UN experts urge EU to suspend Israel trade deal over human rights atrocities

United Nations experts have called on the European Union to immediately suspend its trade agreement with the Israeli regime, describing such a move as the minimum required under the international law.

The experts said on Monday the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which has granted the regime preferential access to European markets since 2000, should be halted in light of serious and persistent human rights violations.

"Europe faces a clear moral test, when its Foreign Ministers meet in Luxembourg tomorrow, 21 April, to consider the suspension, in full or in part of this Agreement," the experts said. "This meeting is taking place amid growing public demand within Europe for accountability."

Over 1 million EU citizens back suspension

"The European Citizens’ Initiative calling for full suspension of the Agreement in light of Israel’s human rights violations, has gathered over one million signatures to date," they added, referring to an EU mechanism aimed at increasing democratic participation in the bloc's decisions.

The experts questioned the EU’s stance as the regime’s largest trading partner, noting that the agreement provides preferential access, including tariff-free entry for certain goods.

The EU cannot credibly claim to uphold human rights while sustaining preferential trade with a regime whose conduct has been found by multiple international bodies as amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, they said.

The call came amid the regime's continued deadly escalation throughout the region, including against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The coastal territory began facing an Israeli war of genocide in October 2023, with the genocidal pattern still characterizing the regime's sporadic attacks, despite a standing ceasefire. Shortly after the launch of the war, the regime began taking Lebanon under deadly escalation, which has persisted so far, notwithstanding similar ceasefire arrangements.

They cited rulings by the International Court of Justice, which found a plausible risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip and issued binding orders requiring humanitarian access and the prevention of irreparable harm. The experts lamented that those orders "have been repeatedly disregarded."

They also referred to a July 2024 advisory opinion by the court, which found the regime’s occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful and in violation of international law.

The experts further pointed to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister for military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"For two and a half years now, the EU has witnessed escalating atrocities against Palestinians without taking any effective measure to uphold international law," they said.

They argued that, as parties to the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, EU member states were obligated to act.

"In light of the gravity and scale of the human rights violations documented, full suspension is not a matter of political discretion, but a legal imperative incumbent on the European Union, and represents the minimum measure required to align its actions with its obligations under international law," the experts said.

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