The EU Foreign Affairs Council met in April 2026 to address the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement amid ongoing genocide in Gaza and invasion and agression of both Lebanon and Iran. The EU once again failed their primary political and legal responsibility to try and preserve a dying international law-based order.
While Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Belgium called for suspension, Germany and Italy strongly blocked the initiative. France maintained its ambiguous position, failing to take meaningful action despite empty condemnation rhetoric and previous claims of restricting military cooperation.
Two recent reports by the People’s Embargo for Palestine, Urgence Palestine, Giovani Palestinesi Italiani and Palestinian Youth Movement have documented thoroughly the role of French and Italian infrastructure in enabling Israel’s genocide. While the official stance of the two governments pretend to have distanced themselves from the crimes, the data emerging in the reports show an ongoing complicity through infrastructure and manufacture.
The failure to act demonstrates how hollow EU statements on human rights and international law truly are: economic interests and political calculations override moral and legal obligations.
FRANCE’S ROLE IN ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE
While President Macron pretends to be standing with the Palestinian people, France is still actively supplying the Israeli military with weapon components that are killing them.
KEY FACTS:
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525+ military shipments from French manufacturers
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Multiple French airports used as transit hubs
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French seaports shipping artillery & ammunition
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French infrastructure supporting Israeli F-35 jets
ITALY’S ROLE IN ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE
Despite public assurances from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that Italy had restricted arms exports to Israel, facts and numbers show an opposite reality.
KEY FACTS:
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at least 416 military-related shipments to Israel
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224+ kilotonnes of fuel originating in Italy to Israel
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Italian manufacturers and suppliers also linked to state ownership (I.e, Leonardo s.p.a)
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A wide net of airports and seaports as necessary infrastructure
GERMANY’S ROLE IN ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE
Germany has been pledging full military support and cooperation with Israel with a partial and brief suspension for a few months in 2025.
“Israel has the right — and indeed the duty — to defend its citizens and its existence against those who repeatedly deny the democratic Jewish state’s right to exist.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, December 2025
KEY FACTS:
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€500+ million arms exports to Israel since October 7, 2023
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German licences included €48m of armoured vehicles, €37m of ammunition, and €13m of bombs.
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500,000 rounds of rifle ammunition and thousands of portable anti-tank weapons known as “Matador,” used in Gaza to destroy infrastructure
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significant part of Israel’s fleet, including submarines and Saar 6 corvettes built in Germany by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS)
IT’S TIME FOR ACTION:
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Arms embargo NOW
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Cancel ALL export authorizations to Israel
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End military transit
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Sanction complicit companies