Article 2 of the agreement states that “Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles…”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called on other members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland’s request to suspend a free trade agreement with Israel over its ongoing military assault on Gaza and Lebanon.
Spain and Ireland have, for months, been leading the charge that the EU should review the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be violating the human rights clause of the accord.
“The European Commission must respond once and for all to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the association agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” Sánchez said on Monday at an event Barcelona, Politico reported.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called on the European Commission to take a stance on whether to suspend the EU's association agreement with Israel, just days after urging a halt to weapons sales to Israel. https://t.co/RbB1Ifh1fE
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) October 14, 2024
The agreement, which entered into force in June 2000, aims to provide an appropriate legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation between the EU and Israel, according to the EU website.
Article 2 of the agreement states that “Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.”
Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza has killed 42,289 Palestinians and injured 98,684 since October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Attack on UN Forces Slammed
Sanchez on Monday also condemned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the United Nations to withdraw its peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon.
España condena de forma rotunda la declaración de Netanyahu. No habrá retirada de la FINUL.
Es hora de que la comunidad internacional despierte. Que actúe con decisión.
El orden internacional debe asentarse en las normas que nos damos todos, no en la fuerza de unos pocos. pic.twitter.com/RNhmng5ROB
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) October 14, 2024
“Spain strongly condemns Netanyahu’s statement,” Sanchez said, adding that “There will be no withdrawal of UNIFIL.”
“It is time for the international community to wake up and act decisively. The international order must be based on the rules that we all give ourselves, not on the strength of a few,” he emphasized.
Netanyahu’s statement comes as Israeli forces stormed a base of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Ramyah on Sunday.
Netanyahu Urges UNIFIL Withdrawal from Lebanon – Israeli Forces Breach UNIFIL Position
“At around 4:30 a.m., while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position. They requested multiple times that the base turn out its lights,” UNIFIL said on X.
“Several rounds” were later fired after the Israeli forces left “which emitted smoke,” which affected 15 peacekeepers through “skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions,” all requiring medical treatment, the UN force said.
Previous Attacks
This was not the first time Israeli forces have targeted UNIFIL forces since the ground operation in Lebanon began.
On October 10, UNIFIL reported that two peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli attack hit a UN observation tower in Lebanon.
The following day, Israeli forces targeted the main entrance of UNIFIL’s command center in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura with artillery shells.
‘Only the People Save the People’ – Spain Goes on General Strike against Genocide in Gaza
Halt on Arms Exports
On Friday, the Spanish Prime Minister also called on countries to stop selling weapons to Israel saying “I think it is urgent given what is happening in the Middle East that the international community stops exporting weapons to the Israeli government.”
He noted that Spain had ceased selling weapons to Israel in October 2023, and condemned Israel’s attacks on the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which includes 650 Spanish soldiers.
“Let me at this point criticize and condemn the attacks that the Israeli armed forces are carrying out on the United Nations mission in Lebanon,” Sanchez reportedly said after his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Israelis are scum. Change my mind…