In her annual "State of the Union" speech at the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the situation in Gaza.
Emphasizing that the events in Gaza have shaken the world's conscience, von der Leyen said:
"People being killed while begging for food, mothers holding their lifeless babies — these images are truly catastrophic. So I want to start with a very clear message: Famine, created by human hands, can never be used as a weapon of war. This must stop — for the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity."
Von der Leyen stated, "We have witnessed the Palestinian Authority being financially strangled, plans for the so-called 'E1' settlement project that would easily separate the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem, and incitement to violence by the most extreme ministers in the Israeli government."
Calling all of this "a blatant attempt to undermine the two-state solution," von der Leyen noted that several EU member states have announced their own sanctions and taken precautionary steps.
She acknowledged that the European Commission's proposal to partially suspend Israel's participation in the Horizon Europe program was blocked due to a lack of majority support among member states, and added:
"We must overcome this. We cannot afford paralysis. Therefore, I will propose a package of measures to chart a way forward. First, the Commission will do everything it can on its own. We will suspend bilateral support to Israel. We will propose sanctions against extremist ministers and violent settlers. We will also propose a partial suspension of the Trade Partnership Agreement."
The Commission President also announced:
"Next month, we will establish a 'Palestinian donor group,' which will include a special mechanism for Gaza's reconstruction. This will be an international effort with regional partners and will build on the momentum of the New York conference organized by France and Saudi Arabia."
