Sweden and the Netherlands call for EU to suspend Israel trade deal
Sweden and the Netherlands have called on the European Union to suspend a trade deal with Israel over its assault on the Gaza Strip.
Mounting pressure has grown on the EU, Israel's largest trading partner, to freeze its association agreement with Israel, which covers both trade and political relations.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday that the situation in Gaza had become "utterly deplorable" and that Israel was failing to uphold its obligations with regards to the delivery of aid.
"Sweden therefore demands that the EU, as soon as possible, freezes the trade component of the association agreement," he wrote on X.
"Economic pressure on Israel must increase. The Israeli government must allow unrestricted humanitarian aid in Gaza."
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His comments come two days after a similar stance was taken by the Netherlands.
Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp also advocated suspending the trade element of the EU-Israel Association Agreement if aid was not stepped up in Gaza.
The calls for suspending the deal come as a number of countries have announced they will recognise the State of Palestine in response to Israel's continuing onslaught on Gaza.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that his country intends to formally recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly in September, following similar announcements by France and the United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, a UN-backed global food security body said famine was unfolding across the besieged enclave, with one in three children in Gaza City acutely malnourished.
"Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a new report.
"Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point."
Meanwhile, two major Israeli human rights groups said this week that Israel is waging genocide in Gaza, joining several other experts and leading rights organisations.
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