BRUSSELS: Two Belgian aid groups launched a court case on Friday seeking to pressure the country to do more to help stop Israel’s war in Gaza, as the EU struggles to take action.
Belgium has been one of the most outspoken of the EU’s 27 countries in seeking to call out Israel over its devastating military operation in Gaza.
The EU’s top diplomat floated a raft of options after Israel was found to have breached a cooperation agreement with the EU on human rights grounds.
But the bloc’s member states are deeply divided over their approach to the conflict.
FASTFACTS
• The two organizations behind the court case are pushing for Belgium to try to unilaterally halt the EU’s cooperation deal with Israel.
• They are also demanding other steps, including the closure of the country’s airspace for any flights taking military equipment to Tel Aviv.
The two organizations behind the court case — the Belgian-Palestinian Association and National Coordination for Peace and Democracy — are pushing for Belgium to try to unilaterally halt the EU’s cooperation deal with Israel.
They are also demanding other steps, including the closure of the country’s airspace for any flights taking military equipment to Israel.
“Unless there is a sudden change, the European Union will not be able to suspend the association agreement with Israel,” Vincent Letellier, a lawyer representing the NGOs said — alluding to the bloc’s divisions.
“Countries must now be put under pressure by their voters and by the courts.”
A preliminary hearing in the case was held before a judge in Brussels on Friday and full proceedings were scheduled for Sept. 15.
International criticism of Israel is growing over the plight of the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 100 aid and rights groups have warned that “mass starvation” is spreading.
Aid groups warned of surging numbers of malnourished children in the enclave as a trio of European powers held an “emergency call” Friday.
Doctors Without Borders said that a quarter of the young children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers it had screened at its clinics last week were malnourished, a day after the UN said one in five children in Gaza City were suffering from malnutrition.
More than 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza.
Israel has rejected accusations it is responsible for the deepening crisis, which the World Health Organization has called “man-made.”
Israel placed the Gaza Strip under an aid blockade in March, which it only partially eased two months later.
