A group of 58 former European Union ambassadors has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and condemned the European Union’s failure to act as a betrayal of its founding principles.
The former diplomats, many of whom spent decades representing the EU abroad, describe Israel’s ongoing assault as a campaign of “brutalisation, dehumanisation, and displacement” deliberately targeting civilians and dismantling all aspects of life in Gaza.
They warn that the EU’s inaction is not only enabling war crimes, but also eroding its credibility and moral authority.
“Ten percent of Gaza’s entire population has been killed, maimed or seriously injured by indiscriminate Israeli bombardments,” they wrote.
Most of Gaza lies in ruins. Those who survive face starvation, disease, and a healthcare system deliberately brought to collapse by Israeli attacks, it adds.
The ambassadors accuse Israel of deliberately obstructing aid and replacing trusted humanitarian agencies like UNRWA with politicised, militarised mercenaries, actions they say violate international humanitarian principles.
The letter notes that even after a supposed humanitarian agreement was announced by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, Israeli forces continued to kill civilians, including those waiting at crossings for food and water.
What is unfolding in Gaza, they add, is not collateral damage but a state-led campaign of genocide.
The letter details the creation of so-called “concentration zones” where civilians are confined in intolerable conditions, and the establishment of a “migration administration” by Israel aimed at permanently removing Palestinians from Gaza.
These, the diplomats say, are “calculated steps toward ethnic cleansing.”
Eyes on West Bank too
The campaign does not stop in Gaza but the occupied West Bank, too, is under siege.
The former ambassadors accuse Israeli settlers, protected and armed by the military, of committing acts of terror against Palestinian communities: torching homes, poisoning water sources, destroying olive groves, and murdering residents with impunity.
“These settlers are not rogue actors,” the letter states. “They are the front-line agents of government-driven agenda to annex and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.”
Citing reports from the United Nations, humanitarian agencies, and Israeli human rights groups, the former envoys stress that the legal case is clear: Israel stands accused of genocide, apartheid, and systematic war crimes.
The International Court of Justice has already found a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, yet EU governments continue to look away.
Call for action
The signatories call on the EU to take decisive action now. Out of nine demands they make, seven include action against Israel.
Among the stipulations are a full suspension of arms and dual-use exports to Israel; a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements; targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and violent settlers; an end to Israel’s participation in EU trade and research programs.
The two demands that they list for Palestine include support for international and national judicial mechanisms, including the ICC; immediate restoration of large-scale humanitarian aid to Gaza and the official recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The officials also denounce efforts by some EU member states to shield Israel from accountability. The failure of the Foreign Affairs Council to take action on July 15 is cited as an example of how political interests are taking precedence over justice and human rights.
The letter ends with a warning: “Silence and neutrality in the face of genocide constitutes complicity. Inaction emboldens perpetrators and betrays every principle the Union and its member states claim to uphold.”
It adds: while continuing to call unceasingly for the return of the hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the end to the war, the European Union, long a champion of human rights and the rule of law, must act now in the name of international law, humanity, and justice for the Palestinian people.
