Pressure is mounting on European politicians to impose sanctions on Israel ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers next week. Hundreds of European former politicians, diplomats and officials this week renewed calls for the EU to sever trade ties in response to Israel's violations of international law in the occupied territories. An online petition calling for the suspension of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel attracted more than one million signatures.

Israel's destructive attacks on Lebanon, deepening occupation of the West Bank, and recent death penalty bill have put Israel's human rights violations back into the spotlight as the EU's Foreign Affairs Council prepares to meet on Tuesday. Several countries are expected to raise for discussion a proposal put forward by the European Commission last year that would suspend trade-related parts of agreement. Member states have been unable to agree on whether to impose trade sanctions on Israel, despite the EU concluding last year that it had violated the human rights provisions of the agreement.

Restrictions on trade require approval from a qualified majority of states, which has remained an unlikely prospect due to opposition from Germany and Italy. In a joint letter on Wednesday, almost 400 former European officials said it was imperative that leaders hold Israel to account and back a suspension of the Association Agreement. "Palestinians remain under sustained assault by an Israeli government determined to marginalise them and render their lives intolerable, the ultimate goal being to force them out of the lands," the letter read.

"It is not acceptable that while Palestinians' human rights and international law are being systematically violated the EU remains divided on the sidelines without exerting the influence it should." Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, former EU ambassador to the Occupied Territories and one of the 394 signatories to the letter, said failing to take action would further tarnish the EU's international reputation. "The EU must move forward with robust measures not only to comply with its legal obligations but also to regain credibility in the eyes of the world," he told The New Arab.

"People of all walks of life want their governments and the EU to act against what they see as abhorrent injustice in occupied Palestine." The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for almost a third of its trade in 2024. Suspending the agreement would strip Israeli companies' preferential access to European markets, potentially costing the Israeli economy 1 billion euros a year.

It would also prevent Israeli organisations from participating in European scientific and research programmes, blocking funding and ending joint projects. The European officials have been joined in their appeal by human rights organisations, which have called on the EU for months to uphold its obligations under international law. Under a 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice, countries are obligated to end support for Israel's occupation of Palestine, which it concluded is illegal under international law.

They are also required to prevent genocide against the Palestinians. UN agencies, rights monitors and hundreds of legal experts have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. More than 10 percent of the population has been killed or injured during Israel's assault, which has left the territory almost totally destroyed.

The ICJ in 2024 held that Israel's assault could plausibly constitute genocide and decided to hear South Africa's case against Israel. "As Israel’s biggest trading partner, the EU can play a decisive role in ending Israel's impunity for violations of international law. However, EU inaction continues to this day, nearly a year after the EU confirmed its trade agreement should be suspended," Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International European Institutions Office, told The New Arab.

"What the EU does next Tuesday will be decisive. Pressure is mounting from all sides: a million voices calling on the EU to suspend the agreement, amid growing tensions between the EU and Israel," she said. Tuesday's meeting comes as Israel's relations with even its closest European allies show signs of deterioration.

Italy on Tuesday announced it would not renew its defence agreement with Israel amid tensions over its aggression against Italian peacekeepers in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich publicly rebuked German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had called on Israel to halt settlement expansion. Israel's European ties suffered another blow over the weekend after Hungary's long-time prime minister and staunch Israel advocate Viktor Orban was voted out of office.

James Moran, former EU ambassador to Egypt, believes that the recent political developments mean there is now a clear prospect that sanctions could be approved by a qualified majority of states. "Failure to act will only worsen the already tarnished