On Gaza at breaking point: EU action to combat famine, the urgent need to release hostages and move towards a two-state solution

B100373/2025

European Parliament resolution on Gaza at breaking point: EU action to combat famine, the urgent need to release hostages and move towards a two-state solution

(2025/2852(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on the Israel-Palestine conflict,

–having regard to the Charter of the United Nations of 26 June 1945,

–having regard to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly,

–having regard to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention),

–having regard to the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 26 January 2024, indicating provisional measures with regard to the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (South Africa v Israel),

–having regard to the advisory opinion of the ICJ of 19 July 2024 on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

–having regard to the European Council conclusions of 20 May 2025 and 26 June 2025 on the review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement,

–having regard to the EU-Israel Association Agreement of 20 November 1995,

–having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 17 July 1998,

–having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and their Additional Protocols, which establish rules for the protection of civilians, prisoners of war, and medical personnel and facilities during armed conflict,

–having regard to the Hague Convention of 1907 and the regulations annexed thereto, which govern the conduct of occupying powers and prohibit the seizure of private property, forcible transfers and collective punishment in occupied territories,

–having regard to the EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL),

–having regard to the 1993 Oslo Accord,

–having regard to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002,

–having regard to the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including the report of 16 June 2025 entitled ‘From economy of occupation to economy of genocide’, the report of 3 July 2025 entitled ‘Forever-Occupation, Genocide, and Profit’ and the UN Watch report of 1 July 2025 entitled ‘Legal Analysis of Francesca Albanese’s June 2025 Report to the Human Rights Council’,

–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas following the terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023, the Israeli Government unleashed a devastating military campaign on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 63 000 Palestinians, the repeated displacement of nearly two million people and the systematic destruction of civilian and humanitarian infrastructure;

B.whereas since 2 March 2025, the Israeli Government has prevented the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and around 100 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from delivering humanitarian aid and has obstructed deliveries from experienced humanitarian organisations, while prioritising the militarisation of aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and associated contractors, in violation of UN humanitarian principles, intentionally inducing famine and leading to the deaths and injuries of thousands of desperate Palestinians attempting to access assistance;

C.whereas the UN has now formally confirmed that famine is occurring in Gaza as a result of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, with catastrophic levels of food insecurity and acute malnutrition spreading rapidly among civilians, particularly children;

D.whereas on 7 October 2023, Hamas carried out a brutal terrorist attack on Israel, killing an estimated 1 200 people and kidnapping 251; whereas the hostages have been held in inhumane, life-threatening conditions, in violation of international law; whereas only 20 hostages are believed to be still alive in captivity;

E.whereas on 4 May 2025, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a military plan with the code name ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots’ that aimed to ‘capture the entire Gaza Strip’ and seize control of the territory, with the express intention of defeating Hamas, dismantling its governance structures, forcibly relocating the civilian population, and establishing enduring security control; whereas members of the Israeli Government are calling for the reoccupation of Gaza;

F.whereas on 7 August 2025, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to expand its military offensive into Gaza City, with the stated objectives of seizing control of the city; whereas the last remaining functioning hospitals in Gaza are located in Gaza City, and this plan therefore raises grave concerns under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians and the safeguarding of essential medical infrastructure; whereas on 20 May 2025, the European Council officially tasked the Commission and the European External Action Service with conducting a review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which sets out respect for human rights and democratic principles as an ‘essential element’ of the agreement; whereas on 23 June 2025, the Commission formally presented the findings of that review to EU foreign ministers, concluding that there were clear indications of Israel breaching its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the agreement;

G.whereas on 10 July 2025, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reached an agreement to increase humanitarian access to Gaza, including reopening border crossings, resuming fuel supplies and ensuring that aid reaches the civilian population; whereas the Israeli Government has yet to fully deliver on its obligations under this inadequate agreement;

H.whereas UN monitoring, including reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the World Health Organization (WHO), documented at least 136 Israeli strikes on 27 hospitals and 12 additional medical facilities across Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, which resulted in significant casualties among doctors, nurses, other medical staff and civilians, as well as severe damage to, or destruction of, public healthcare infrastructure; whereas subsequent attacks, notably on Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital, have further disabled vital medical services that were providing critical life-saving care; whereas such patterns of targeting protected medical facilities raise grave concerns regarding violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes;

I.whereas educational, cultural and religious sites, including mosques, churches and cemeteries, are constantly targeted in Gaza and the other occupied Palestinian territories, in clear violation of international humanitarian law; whereas the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel found that these acts amounted to war crimes and the crime of extermination;

J.whereas international journalists are denied entry into Gaza, and more than 220 locally based journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of hostilities, including at least 11 in recent targeted attacks; whereas the Israeli Government has approved plans to construct 3 400 housing units in the E1 area, aiming to divide the West Bank into two separate parts, a move which would sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank and further fragment Palestinian territory, undermining the viability of a future two-state solution supported by the EU and the vast majority of UN members;

K.whereas on 26 January 2024, in the case of South Africa v Israel under the Genocide Convention, the ICJ ordered that Israel must take urgent provisional measures to prevent acts that could bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, ensure the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance, prevent destruction of evidence, and report to the ICJ on compliance with this order; whereas on 28 March 2024, the ICJ reaffirmed these measures and further held that famine in Gaza had not only become a risk, but was actively occurring, obliging Israel to ensure unhindered humanitarian access and keep border crossings like Rafah open, among other measures, and to ensure that its military refrain from actions disrupting life-saving assistance; whereas on 24 May 2024, the ICJ further ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the Rafah Governorate and to keep land crossings open, in line with its Genocide Convention obligations;

L.whereas there is growing consensus among scholars, UN experts and reputable NGOs about the genocidal nature of at least some elements of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, with such judgements having been reached by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, UN experts, reputable Israeli, Palestinian and international NGOs, leading Israeli scholars and others;

M.whereas all EU Member States have the legal obligation under the Genocide Convention to ‘employ all means reasonably available to them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible’, and this obligation is triggered by the mere likelihood that genocide could be committed;

N.whereas on 21 November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif on grounds of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between 8 October 2023 and 20 May 2024, specifically the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including murder, persecution and other inhumane acts; whereas the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I found reasonable grounds to hold them responsible as co-perpetrators, obliging all the states parties to the Rome Statue of the ICC to arrest them if they enter their territory; whereas on 16 July 2025, ICC judges rejected Israel’s request to withdraw the arrest warrants or suspend the broader investigation, confirming that the warrants remain in force;

O.whereas violent settlers in the West Bank continue to carry out attacks with impunity, including against well-known peaceful human rights campaigners; whereas in April and July 2024, under its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the EU imposed restrictive measures – including asset freezes, travel bans and prohibitions on economic dealings – on several extremist Israeli settlers and organisations responsible for serious human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem;

P.whereas even without counting the Gazans held in military detention, approximately 11 800 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israeli jails, including more than 3 500 in what is called ‘administrative detention’, which is renewable without limit and affords no rights to the detainees; whereas the number of prisoners has increased drastically since 7 October 2023;

Q.whereas in the absence of EU action, several Member States, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Ireland, have adopted independent sanctions policies targeting Israeli officials and economic links with illegal settlements, together reflecting a growing commitment at national level to uphold international law and challenge practices deemed illegal under EU human rights and humanitarian norms;

1.Calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and in the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories , the unconditional release of all hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and all occupied territories;

2.Unequivocally condemns the disproportionate Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which is responsible for the mass killing of innocent civilians, most of whom are women and children, the continuous displacement of nearly two million people, the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and the use of starvation as a method of war pushing Palestinians into famine;

3.Reiterates its condemnation of the brutal terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which claimed the lives of 1 195 Israelis and resulted in the abduction of 251 individuals; condemns, furthermore, the inhumane conditions in which the hostages were held, as well as the physical and psychological abuse inflicted on them by their captors;

4.Highlights the clear and growing evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza; urges the Israeli Government to immediately cease all acts that are prohibited under international law, including the Genocide Convention, which Israel has ratified, and to comply with the ICJ orders;

5.Urges the Commission and the Member States to take all necessary measures to prevent any genocidal act in Gaza;

6.Calls for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the grounds of Israel’s non-compliance with its human rights obligations, as confirmed by the Commission’s June 2025 review of Article 2 of the agreement; calls on the Commission, as a first step, to propose an immediate suspension of preferential trade access for Israel under the Association Agreement, and on the Council to adopt this proposal by qualified majority voting, as provided for under the Treaties;

7.Strongly denounces and opposes the ever-expanding Israeli military offensive in Gaza seeking to militarily conquer the territory, maintain a permanent occupation and expel the entire population of Palestine, which is in clear violation of international law and fundamentally opposes the EU’s position on a two-state solution;

8.Calls for an arms embargo on Israel; supports a ban on the export of surveillance technologies used across the Occupied Palestinian Territories to monitor and spy on Palestinians;

9.Urges the Council to adopt the Commission proposal (COM(2025)0620) for a partial suspension of Israel’s participation in Horizon Europe’s activities focusing on funding provided under the Accelerator of the European Innovation Council;

10.Is appalled by, and unequivocally condemns, the Israeli Government’s deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid, electricity, fuel and water to Gaza, depriving people of goods that are indispensable for their survival, which constitutes a war crime under international law; recalls that the ICJ, in its order of 28 March 2024, affirmed that genocide can also be committed by withholding humanitarian assistance;

11.Urges the Israeli Government to immediately lift the blockade, allow the full resumption of aid deliveries by the UN and humanitarian organisations through all border crossings, and ensure full humanitarian access at all times, in line with its obligations under international law and as agreed by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on 10 July 2025;

12.Notes that, despite the EU’s provision of humanitarian aid, most supplies either remain blocked at the border or are turned back by the Israeli authorities, which has resulted in famine in the Gaza Strip, as recognised by the UN; urges the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to take concrete measures to break the Israeli blockade and ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance;

13.Fundamentally opposes and condemns the privatisation, militarisation and politicisation of humanitarian aid by the Israeli Government, supported by the United States, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hubs, which severely restrict access to live-saving aid for Palestinians and serve the Israeli Government as a tool to control, forcibly relocate and register the Palestinian people, all of which undermine the core humanitarian principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality;

14.Condemns the Israeli military’s shooting of civilians waiting for food to be distributed and calls for an immediate and independent investigation into these events;

15.Urges Israel to restore and fully collaborate with the principled, UN-led humanitarian coordination system, which proved effective during the ceasefire, and firmly rejects any militarised aid delivery model; calls for an end to the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation system of militarised aid distribution, which has undermined impartial humanitarian access;

16.Strongly condemns the deliberate killing of thousands of medical workers, UN staff and humanitarian workers by the Israeli army, which is a grave violation of international humanitarian law; demands an independent and thorough investigation into these killings, the perpetrators of which must be held to account; strongly denounces the use of double tap strikes, which deliberately cause more civilian deaths;

17.Stresses the need for continued and increased EU funding for UNRWA, in recognition of its indispensable role as the primary provider of humanitarian and development assistance in Gaza, and of its crucial contribution to essential services such as healthcare and education throughout the Middle East;

18.Calls on the Israeli Government to immediately repeal its legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in line with its obligations under the UN Charter;

19.Denounces the targeted killing of hundreds of journalists in Palestine, with one third of them reportedly killed by Israeli air strikes or drones; highlights the fact that Gaza has become the most dangerous region in the world for journalists, and Israel is among the top five countries globally for the number of journalists it jails; calls for an independent investigation into these killings and demands the protection of Palestinian journalists and an end to impunity for the crimes perpetrated against them by the Israeli army in Palestine; urges the Israeli Government to guarantee unrestricted access to Gaza for (international) journalists and the equipment they need; highlights the fact that attacks on, and the exclusion of, journalists violate press freedom and contribute to an information vacuum that is being filled by propaganda, misinformation and disinformation;

20.Denounces the Israeli Government’s decision to arm groups in Gaza that it claims are opposed to Hamas, fuelling further violence and the killing of innocent civilians;

21.Supports the families of the hostages in their fight for the release of their loved ones; condemns the Israeli Government for abandoning the hostages, choosing instead to pursue its conquest of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of Palestinians;

22.Calls on the Member States and the Commission to rapidly expand and make available all necessary resources for medical evacuations to EU countries via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Palestinians in Gaza, including via humanitarian organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières, with a focus on evacuating children in need of emergency medical treatment, and to ensure their safe transport along with their immediate families; calls on the Israeli Government to fully cooperate with Egypt and the EU in these efforts and to take all possible steps to facilitate the transfer of patients and their accompanying relatives;

23.Welcomes the Arab Recovery and Reconstruction Plan, presented in March 2025, as a credible basis on which to work towards the future of Gaza, and calls for the EU and its Member States to make their diplomatic and financial resources available for the plan’s implementation;

24.Denounces the dramatically expanding military operations in the occupied West Bank and the mounting violence against Palestinians and their property by both the Israeli military and violent settlers – in particular since 7 October 2023 – including the killing of innocent civilians, house demolitions and forced displacement, all of which is equivalent to ethnic cleansing; deplores the severe restriction of movement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with around 849 obstacles to movement, including checkpoints, hundreds of roadblocks and other barriers; denounces the freezing and diversion of income taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which undermines the stability of the Palestinian Authority and the possibility of creating a viable Palestinian state coexisting peacefully side by side with the state of Israel;

25.Condemns the policies of rapidly advancing Israeli settlements and the annexation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law, and in particular the recent decision to move forward with a settlement plan in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, which would effectively cut off the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem and make a two-state solution impossible;

26.Condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the resolution adopted by the Knesset on 23 July 2025 calling for the annexation of the entire occupied West Bank, claiming a ‘natural, historical or legal right’ over the territory; condemns, equally, the plan presented by Bezalel Smotrich to annex 82 % of the West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state;

27.Highlights the fact that the policies of the Israeli Government and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem exhibit core elements of apartheid and segregation, and breach Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as found by the ICJ advisory opinion of July 2024;

28.Urges Israel to immediately halt its settlement plans and activities and calls for the EU and the Member States to push clearly for the application of the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 and UN General Assembly Resolution 10/24 of 18 September 2024, which stated that Israel had to end its occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem without delay;

29.Calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure that products originating from illegal settlements do not enter the EU market, in line with the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 and the UN General Assembly resolution of 18 September 2024; calls for the EU and its Member States to issue trade advisories on economic activities in the illegally occupied territories to prevent interaction with companies listed in the UN database of companies operating in illegally occupied territories;

30.Fully supports the current EU sanctions enacted against violent Israeli settlers and activists in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and calls on the Council to continue to identify and sanction violent entities and individuals, including those involved in illegally demolishing EU-funded structures in the occupied territories; calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of suspending visa-free travel for all settlers residing in the occupied territories, including government ministers and officials;

31.Calls for the EU to follow the decisions of several Member States and the United Kingdom to issue sanctions against Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir;

32.Demands economic and diplomatic sanctions against high-ranking Israeli officials responsible for war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and the West Bank; calls for restrictive measures against officials, individuals and organisations that support illegal Israeli settlers or encourage settler violence and war crimes in Gaza through inflammatory, dehumanising rhetoric and incitement to commit genocide or other crimes;

33.Urges the international community to disarm Hamas entirely, removing its capacity for armed conflict, and to hold all leadership figures within Hamas accountable for their roles in the terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023 and all other activities of this terrorist organisation; calls for the unconditional surrender of Hamas and an end to all further attacks; highlights the importance of protecting the Palestinian people who oppose Hamas and advocate peaceful resistance; vehemently opposes any confusion between the Palestinian population and Hamas; calls on the UN to put forward a proposal for a UN peacebuilding and peacekeeping force in Palestine to disarm Hamas and to protect the Palestinian population from violence and forced displacement;

34.Calls for the EU to continue its political and financial support of the Palestinian Authority to foster its capacity to govern and provide services to Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while insisting on accountability, democratic reform and anti-corruption measures; condemns the US Government’s decision to deny and revoke the visas of representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation to prevent their participation at the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025; calls for the EU and its Member States to use their diplomatic leverage to prevent this unacceptable precedent;

35.Reiterates its full support for the work of the ICJ and the ICC; calls for the EU to ensure that Israel complies with the provisional measures under the ICJ orders (South Africa v Israel);

36.Reminds Israel of its obligation to fully implement the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, in particular its ‘obligation to repeal all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation’, ‘to provide full reparation for the damage caused by its internationally wrongful acts to all natural or legal persons concerned’, and ‘the evacuation of all settlers from existing settlements’; calls on the Commission to review all current European Investment Bank and Horizon Europe funding programmes and to suspend those that indirectly benefit the illegal occupation, notably through loopholes for subcontractors and government entities in East Jerusalem;

37.Expresses concern about the worsening attacks on the ICC by the United States, and the impact that this will have on the ICC’s ability to continue conducting its investigations; condemns the US sanctions against the ICC and its staff and partners, including human rights organisations such as Addameer, Al Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al-Mezan, as well as against the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese; calls on the Commission to urgently activate the blocking statute and on the Member States to increase their diplomatic efforts in order to protect and safeguard the ICC, as an indispensable cornerstone of the international justice system, and all other organisations targeted by the sanctions;

38.Underlines that all EU Member States, as parties to the Rome Statute, are legally obliged to enforce ICC arrest warrants, including those issued against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Gallant and Hamas leader Deif, who is reported to be dead; whereas any decision to ignore these obligations or withdraw from the ICC violates the EU acquis and undermines the EU’s common foreign and security policy and the rules-based international order;

39.Reiterates its support for a lasting, peaceful two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders in accordance with international law; supports an independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state coexisting side by side with Israel living up to its obligations under international law; recalls the right of Palestinian people to self-determination and their right to return;

40.Welcomes the decision of the EU Member States to recognise Palestine at the forthcoming UN General Assembly; calls on all the Member States to recognise an independent Palestinian state without further delay and calls for the EU to coordinate a Member State strategy for this process;

41.Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Palestinians who are arbitrarily detained in Israeli prisons, in particular, minors and those being held in administrative detention without charge or trial;

42.Strongly condemns the targeting, damage and destruction of places of worship, such as the Al-Omari Mosque, the Holy Family Church in Gaza and all other religious sites; condemns, moreover, the destruction by Israel of cultural heritage and educational infrastructure;

43.Reiterates its full support for Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations that are fighting for peace, democracy and human rights and whose work is vital for protecting Israeli democracy and creating a path towards a just and lasting peace; calls, therefore, for the EU to continue to provide and to reinforce political and financial aid for these organisations under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe;

44.Opposes the proposed Israeli bill imposing an 80 % tax on foreign public funds for NGOs while exempting government-supported organisations, a measure that would effectively shut down many Israeli human rights groups and humanitarian NGOs carrying out crucial work, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; denounces the Israeli policy of refusing to give visas to employees of international NGOs;

45.Supports civil disobedience initiatives and demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Israel, notably the Global Sumud Flotilla, in which several Members of the European Parliament are participating; condemns Israel’s shelling and interception of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels, which is in clear violation of international maritime law; deplores the fact that civil society has to act where the EU and its Member States have failed;

46.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, the Knesset and the Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council.