On September 17, 2025, the European Union unveiled its most forceful proposal yet to pressure Israel to end its military campaign in Gaza, a move that has sent ripples through diplomatic circles and reignited fierce debate across the continent. As Israeli tanks and troops pressed further into Gaza City, and the Palestinian death toll soared past 65,000, EU leaders in Brussels announced a package of sanctions and economic measures aimed at what they described as an increasingly urgent humanitarian crisis.
At the heart of the proposal, as reported by the Associated Press, is a plan to increase tariffs on a select group of Israeli goods—impacting about 230 million euros ($166 million) worth of imports, or roughly 37% of the 15.9 billion euros in total Israeli goods the EU receives each year. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged the bloc’s 27 member nations to endorse not just these tariffs but also targeted sanctions against Israeli settlers, two prominent cabinet ministers—National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—and ten leaders of Hamas.
“We are proposing these measures not to punish Israel or Israeli people, but to really try to pressure the Israeli government to change course and to end the human suffering in Gaza,” Kallas said at a Brussels press conference. “The war needs to end, the suffering must stop, and all hostages must be released.” According to Al Jazeera, the European Commission clarified that the sanctions would freeze European assets and ban travel within the EU for those targeted.
The EU’s move comes after a June 2025 review by its diplomatic corps found that Israel had violated the human rights provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, specifically Article 2, which ties trade preferences to respect for human rights and democratic principles. The European Commission stated that Israel’s intensified military operations in Gaza, its blockade of humanitarian aid, and its advancement of settlement plans in the West Bank’s E1 area all contributed to this breach. “This breach refers to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza following the military intervention of Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid, the intensifying of military operations and the decision of the Israeli authorities to advance the settlement plan in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank, which further undermines the two-state solution,” the Commission said.
The proposed economic measures would immediately suspend about 32 million euros ($37.5 million) in bilateral funds controlled by the European Commission, though support to Israeli civil society organizations and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, would continue. The tariffs themselves would revoke the current zero-tariff preference for a portion of Israeli goods, reverting instead to World Trade Organization rates, which range from 8% to 40% on different products.
The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, and the potential economic impact of these measures is significant. Still, as the BBC and DW have noted, the 27-member bloc remains divided over the proposal’s scope and necessity. Some countries, including Spain and Ireland, have called for even tougher economic curbs and an arms embargo, while others—most notably Germany and Hungary—have expressed strong reservations or outright opposition. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who only recently shifted from a strongly pro-Israel stance, said, “The horrific events taking place in Gaza on a daily basis must stop. There needs to be an immediate ceasefire, unrestrained access for all humanitarian aid and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.”
Public pressure for action has been mounting. Protests have erupted in cities from Amsterdam to Barcelona, with demonstrators demanding that EU governments do more to end the war. According to Al Jazeera, human rights organizations and political parties have been lobbying Brussels to take a tougher line, and the division within the EU reflects the challenge of reconciling these demands with the bloc’s traditionally cautious approach to Middle East diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground in Gaza grows ever more dire. The Hamas-run health ministry reported that the Palestinian death toll had reached 65,062, with Israeli airstrikes and artillery pounding Gaza City more than 150 times in just 48 hours, as ground troops advanced. The bombardment has destroyed vast swathes of the territory, displaced around 90% of its population, and, according to UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram (speaking to DW), left families traumatized and children walking for hours on rubble, often without shoes. “Families were exhausted, they're traumatized. There were children walking six hours on shattered rubble and tarmac with no shoes and their feet were bleeding. And these families are walking into the unknown,” Ingram said. She also warned that the so-called humanitarian zones are not safe and lack essential services.
Israel, for its part, has rejected the EU’s claims and the proposed sanctions. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar sent a sharply worded letter to Ursula von der Leyen, accusing her of empowering a terrorist organization and insisting, “Pressure through sanctions will not work. The State of Israel is a proud sovereign nation, and we will not be bent through threats while Israel’s security is at stake.” Saar went further on social media, warning that any measures against Israel would “harm Europe’s own interests” and promising an “appropriate response.”
As reported by DW, the Israeli government has also argued that it allows sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza and denies that starvation is occurring. Nonetheless, aid groups and international agencies have painted a grim picture. More than 20 humanitarian organizations, including Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, and Oxfam International, issued a joint statement calling for urgent international action to halt the war. “History will undoubtedly judge this moment as a test of humanity. And we are failing,” the statement read.
Adding to international pressure, a United Nations inquiry on September 16, 2025, concluded that Israel’s war on Gaza amounted to genocide, citing four of the five genocidal acts defined in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The report named Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as inciters of genocide. Israel has vehemently rejected the findings as “scandalous,” maintaining that its military campaign targets Hamas, not civilians.
Within the EU, the path forward remains fraught. While the European Commission’s proposals represent a significant escalation in efforts to hold Israel accountable, it’s unclear whether a majority of member states will back them. As Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission’s trade representative, put it, “The proposed partial suspension is a carefully considered response to an increasingly urgent situation.” Yet, as debates continue, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens and the diplomatic rift between Europe and Israel widens.
As European leaders weigh their options, the world watches—wondering whether these measures will mark a turning point, or simply another chapter in a conflict that has already exacted an unbearable toll.