Overview

• In an interview with Politico, EC Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera described the targeting and starvation of Gaza’s civilian population as meeting the legal definition of genocide.
• Ribera’s language exceeds the Commission’s prior stance, which acknowledged human rights violations in Gaza without applying the term genocide.
• She recommended suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement to leverage the bloc’s economic ties for humanitarian concessions.
• The European Commission separately proposed limiting Israel’s access to its flagship research funding programme to intensify pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
• Israel insists its Gaza operations are lawful self-defense against Hamas’s October 2023 attack, and deep divisions among EU member states have so far blocked any sanctions requiring unanimity.