EU Proposes Cutting Relations With Israel

EU parliament urges halting relations with Israel

European deputies step up pressure on Brussels to do more to end Israeli offensive.

STRASBOURG - European deputies stepped up the pressure on the executive EU Commission to bring an end to Israel's military offensive in Gaza, urging it to halt developing EU-Israeli relations.

"I have never condemned Israel and I am sincerely worried about the two sides, but the fact is that Israel's action are disproportional and we are doing nothing," said Irish MEP Guy Mitchell in the European Parliament.

Other deputes raised the issue of suspending last month's EU-Israel Association Agreement, which formed the legal basis of stronger relations between the European bloc and the Jewish state.

"Do you not think the time has come to interrupt the strengthening of our ties with Israel? It is no longer about words, but actions," said Italian MEP Vittorio Agnoletto.

Faced with a barrage of accusations that the EU was political paralysed, the European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner who attended the meeting denied that Brussels was not doing enough.

"I could not have done more than what we have done... It is very easy to tell me to do more... Sometimes a commissioner seems to have so much more power than she (actually) has," she said.

Her comments came after the EU's Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said Israel was not respecting international human rights law in the Gaza Strip, where it was giving insufficient protection to the civil population.

On Tuesday the Israeli army embarked on the 18th day of its offensive the Gaza Strip. The fighting has left more than 900 dead including significant numbers of Palestinian women and children.

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