Donald Trump unveiled what he branded a new “peace process”, and Europe was quick to fall in line.
EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Kaja Kallas and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen rushed to applaud the plan. They described it as a long-awaited path to peace—one that ignores Israel’s long list of violations of human rights and international law while pressuring Palestinians, yet again, to demonstrate “goodwill” and compromise under occupation.
Just months earlier, in late June 2025, a confidential paper from the EU’s own External Action Service (EEAS) was leaked. It documented Israel’s use of torture, starvation, apartheid, and other atrocities—offering irrefutable evidence that Israel is violating the agreement’s human rights clause.
Rather than act on this evidence, the EU chose the familiar path of appeasement.
At the height of Israel’s engineered famine in July, Kallas announced an “understanding” with Israel to supposedly improve humanitarian aid flows into Gaza. She promised close monitoring and said all options would remain open in case of non-compliance. Yet, even by the EU’s own acknowledgement, almost nothing changed.
Israel has made no meaningful effort to expand aid, and Gaza’s siege-induced catastrophe persisted, marking the EU’s failure to deliver on its only promise.
By mid-September, the von der Leyen, proposed the EU’s first timid punitive measures against Israel that include suspending trade concessions and sanctioning extremist ministers and violent settlers. But within weeks, as talks intensified around Trump’s twenty-point plan for Gaza, those discussions were quietly frozen.
By the second anniversary of the genocide, EU leaders gathered in Brussels to discuss the situation in Gaza, but there was no mention of sanctions or accountability. The final communiqué repeated the usual lines: the EU’s readiness to support “lasting peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution”, a call for “unhindered humanitarian access” and willingness to implement border security missions through EUBAM Rafah and EUPOL COPPS.
The work of ending Europe’s complicity was instead undertaken by the young Europeans who set up the first encampments outside the building where leaders met, in Schuman Square.
Everything the EU desired
Even now, despite what is depicted as a ‘ceasefire’ period, Israel’s colonial violence in Palestine intensifies, and not just in Gaza. Yet, the international community, including the EU, continues to watch without taking any action.
In the West Bank, on 21 October, the Israeli Knesset advanced a bill to formally annex the territory. Settler violence has also been on the rise in Jerusalem and across the West Bank as Palestinian farmers have started harvesting their olive trees.
In the Gaza Strip, the so-called temporary yellow line has now taken physical form, splitting Gaza into two parts—one ultimately intended for Israeli control.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities persist in blocking life-saving aid. According to international NGOs, nearly 50 million dollars’ worth of essential supplies remain stuck at crossings and warehouses, barred from reaching genocide survivors. In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes have continued to claim lives, including one that hit UN peacekeeping forces in the country’s south.
On 22 October, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an important advisory opinion urging Israel to uphold its legal obligation to allow humanitarian aid into the Strip. Despite this, Israeli authorities unsurprisingly rejected the ruling, dismissing it as “political” and reiterating that UNRWA will not be permitted to operate in the Strip.
The Commission’s foreign affairs chief and spokesperson have both admitted that the EU has no intention of punishing Israel. This stance shows that the EU’s approach is deliberate and systemic. Despite holding undeniable evidence of Israel’s atrocities—evidence that defies its stated values and the moral demands of its citizens—the EU maintains business as usual, even after two years of the world’s first live-streamed genocide.
The so-called peace process has allowed the EU to remain in its comfort zone: showcasing itself as the largest humanitarian donor to the Palestinian territories while continuing normal relations with Israel’s genocidal regime.
It has also enabled the EU to outsource its complicity through closer cooperation with Arab governments that are normalising relations with Israel, including Saudi Arabia, which is set to host the second GCC-EU summit in 2026.
In essence, Trump’s plan handed the EU everything it desired: a way to appear politically relevant, prolong the Israel’s colonial project, and evade accountability for its complicity in the illegal occupation of Palestine, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Across Europe, people have made it clear they will not stand by while the EU shields Israel from accountability. Even after the ceasefire, they are still in the streets—marching, organising, demanding sanctions, and exposing the hypocrisy of those in power.
Furthermore, Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York sent a powerful reminder to people, grassroots movements, and leftist parties alike: real transformation is never granted by institutions—it is demanded and built by people who refuse to compromise, who unite across struggles, and who persist until justice is achieved.
Tamam Abusalama is a Palestinian-Belgian communications professional, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp. Her work includes campaigning for refugee rights.
Follow her on Twitter/X: @TamamBeitJirja
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