Human Rights Watch urges EU to continue pressuring Israel

Human Rights Watch called on the European Union to continue pressing Israel to end the violations it is committing against Palestinians.

In a statement, the group said sanctions and trade measures are necessary to uphold international law and end the system of apartheid.

It said some Israeli representatives in Brussels, along with its new ambassador to the EU, are pressing the European Commission to amend or withdraw its proposals to impose sanctions on hardline Israeli ministers and to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement.

The Israeli pressure comes as EU leaders and foreign ministers prepare meetings to discuss the situation in Palestine.

The group said Brussels’ yielding to this pressure would be a “blow” to the EU’s credibility and to hopes for human rights and accountability.

It noted several European governments have taken unilateral measures in response to escalating atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank.

It said: “Although these measures have not risen to the level of the obligations imposed by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, they have helped create international pressure that aided in reaching a ceasefire.”

It pointed out that Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich threaten to undermine those efforts.

Human Rights Watch stressed that statements by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich constitute “evidence of intent to commit genocide in Gaza.”

It noted that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on the two ministers in June, and several EU countries declared them persona non grata, but the EU “failed to act, unable to reach the consensus needed to impose sanctions.”

It said EU countries “have not yet agreed to suspend the trade pillar of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, even though Israel has violated Article 2 of the pact, which states that ‘respect for human rights and democratic principles is an essential element.'”

It said the EU’s comprehensive review of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is based on UN condemnatory reports and a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which found the Israeli occupation and associated serious violations, including an apartheid system, to be unlawful.

The group noted that targeted sanctions and the suspension of the trade agreement were also mentioned in the annex to the New York Declaration of September 2025 on implementing the “two-state solution,” led by France and Saudi Arabia.

It recorded that while the majority of EU countries supported the UN resolution backing the declaration and several recognized the State of Palestine, “only a few have translated that into concrete action.”

It said that instead of easing pressure at this critical time, the EU should act “in line with the findings of its own investigations, respect international law and end the impunity that fuels past and ongoing Israeli crimes.”