The European Union\u2019s belated decision to review its trade agreement with Israel, while welcome, will not come soon enough to stave off the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, according to Social Democrats senator Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWith dire warnings from the UN that up to 14,000 babies face imminent death from starvation, the international community is finally starting to wake up to the fact that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot content with its indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, which has left more than 50,000 people dead, Israel has been using starvation as a weapon of war by blocking vital humanitarian aid into the region for the past 11 weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the face of mounting international condemnation, Israel is now permitting a trickle of aid to enter the territory. However, this blatant propaganda exercise by Netanyahu\u2019s government will do little to alleviate the daily human misery being experienced by more than 2.1 million Gazans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn November 2023 \u2013 just one month into this brutal conflict \u2013 the Social Democrats brought a motion before the D\u00e1il calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This was on the basis that the human rights clause in the trade deal had been seriously breached by Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is truly shocking that, 19 months into this war, the EU is only now considering a review of its trading relationship with Israel\u2019s murderous regime, despite receiving a request from Ireland and Spain to do so as far back as February 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardening of the EU\u2019s attitude towards Israel\u2019s atrocities is welcome. But there is no guarantee that the review requested yesterday by 17 member states will result in sanctions given the strong opposition from several countries, including Germany, Hungary and Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of Gaza are in a fight for their survival and do not have the luxury of time. They need action, not mere words of condemnation or drawn-out reviews of trade agreements.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our part, Ireland needs to show leadership by immediately enacting the Occupied Territories Bill, a crucial piece of legislation that this government has shamefully backtracked on since taking office.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 21, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Union\u2019s belated decision to review its trade agreement with Israel, while welcome, will not come soon enough to stave off the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, according to Social Democrats senator Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade, said: \u201cWith dire warnings from the UN that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,529,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-gaza","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n