EU commission president seeks sanctions, partial trade suspension against Israel over war in Gaza

Palestinians have been ordered to head south to a designated safe zone where hundreds of thousands already live in squalid tent camps and where Israel regularly strikes what it says are militant targets. Many have refused to leave Gaza City, saying they no longer have the strength or money to relocate.

“There is no safe zone in the Gaza Strip,” Fawzi Muftah said as people walked alongside a line of vehicles loaded with mattresses, carpets and other belongings. ”Danger is everywhere."

The Gaza Health Ministry said the bodies of another 41 people killed by Israeli fire, including 12 who were seeking humanitarian aid, have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. Another 184 people were wounded, it said.

The 27-nation EU is deeply divided in its approach to Israel and the Palestinians, and it’s unclear whether a majority will be found to endorse the sanctions and trade measures called for by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

‘Man-made famine’

The Gaza Health Ministry says 126 Palestinians, including 26 children, have died of causes related to malnutrition since international experts announced famine in Gaza City on Aug. 22. A total of 404 people, including 141 children, have died of causes related to malnutrition since the war began.

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity. This must stop,” von der Leyen said Wednesday, to applause in the European Parliament at its meeting in Strasbourg, France.

Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza and says it allows in enough humanitarian aid. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a social media post, said von der Leyen had succumbed to pressures that undermine Israel-Europe relations. He said her actions will embolden Hamas.

Von der Leyen also said she plans to freeze support to Israel given by the European Union’s executive branch, which would not require the approval of the 27 member countries.

It was not immediately clear how much financial support the executive branch, known as the European Commission, provides to Israel and what it is used for.

“We will put our bilateral support to Israel on hold. We will stop all payments in these areas, without affecting our work with Israeli civil society or Yad Vashem,” the Holocaust memorial, von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.

Strike on Qatar sparks widespread outrage

The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally drew widespread condemnation from countries in the Mideast and beyond. It also marked a dramatic escalation in the region and risked upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas claims its senior leadership, who were weighing a new U.S. ceasefire proposal, survived the strike, which killed two lower-ranking members and three bodyguards. In the past, Hamas has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, abducting 251 people and killing some 1,200, mostly civilians. Forty-eight hostages are still held inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas.

Large parts of major cities in Gaza have been completely destroyed and around 90% of the territory's 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, often multiple times.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Cook from Brussels.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war