The European Commission has suspended all financial support to Israel in response to the country’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said, “We will put our bilateral support to Israel on hold. We will stop all payments in these areas without affecting our work with civil society or Yad Vashem.”
She also proposed targeted sanctions against “extremist ministers and violent settlers,” stressing that “man-made famine can never be a weapon of war.”
Describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “unacceptable,” von der Leyen urged Europe to lead by example: “For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity, this must stop.”
In addition, she called for a partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which has underpinned political and economic relations between both sides since 2000.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Since then, the Hamas-run health authority in Gaza reports that over 64,500 Palestinians have been killed, with extensive destruction across the enclave.
