Israel has damaged at least €150m of European taxpayer-funded structures in Gaza and the West Bank, but not paid back one euro, according to an EUobserver investigation compiling data from the EU and third-party aid groups, amid Brussels’ wall of silence.
A “strictly confidential”, but leaked, EU legal memo from 2017 said Europe was entitled to freeze Israel science grants and free-trade perks over its West Bank aggression. “What was then a legitimate option, today is a legal obligation,” an Italian expert said.
Unanimity has paralysed EU action too many times. This time it’s possible to avoid it, writes Albert Alemanno. The proposal to ban goods from Israeli settlements is qualitatively different. It does not seek to punish a state or alter a geopolitical relationship. Its sole aim is to ensure that EU commerce does not infringe international law.
Delivering help to Palestinian refugees is harder than ever due to fragile relations with host countries, a volatile conflict, and funding cuts, said veteran German humanitarian Dorothée Klaus, who is director of the UN relief agency in Lebanon.
The European Commission on Monday shied away from taking a stand on using a mechanism that would shield Europeans, such as Francesca Albanese, from US-imposed sanctions over Israel.
“We have moved on from the political deadlock … Violence and extremism carry consequences,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.
![[Interview] Palestine’s UN envoy pushes EU to show ‘tough love’ to Israel: ‘Business as usual is not working’](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/05/Conferencia_emergencia_Palestina-Joel_Gonzalez_08.jpg)
Palestinian UN envoy Mansour said Europe must abandon “business as usual” with Israel, urging real pressure to defend the two-state solution, in an interview with EUobserver.
