"The European Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, leading to a permanent end to hostilities,’’ they said in their conclusions issued Thursday at an EU summit meeting in Brussels where developments in the Middle East were discussed.

"It deplores the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation. The European Council calls on Israel to fully lift its blockade on Gaza, to allow immediate, unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale into and throughout Gaza and to enable the UN and its agencies, and humanitarian organizations, to work independently and impartially to save lives and reduce suffering," the conclusions read.

The text adds : "Israel must fully comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law. The European Council recalls the imperative of ensuring the protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers, at all times, as well as of civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, schools and UN premises."

The European Council also deplored "the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages".

The EU leaders took note of the review report prepaared by the EU’s External Service on Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and invites the Council to continue discussions on a follow-up, as appropriate, in July, taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground.

The report concluded that there were “indications” that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the agreement with its actions in Gaza.

At a meeting earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced that she would address the report results with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The EU Foreign Ministers will discuss the topic again in July to see if they decide to take eventual measures against Israel.

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"Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground (in Gaza) and help the humanitarian aid get in and help the people. So today was the beginning of the debate and not the end,’’ Kallas told reporters after the ministerial meeting.

"If the situation does not improve, then we can also discuss further measures and come back to this at the next Foreign Affairs Council in July,"  she said.

The review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement was decided in May after a majority of EU member states supported a proposal of Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.

In a letter to Kallas, Israeli Foireign Minister Gideon Sa’ar requested to shelve the report prepared by the EU on  Article 2 of the Association Agreement in which he wrote: "In the name of fairness, the flaws in the composition of the report should be addressed and it should be completely disregarded.”

The report, he wrote, “completely ignores our detailed answers to the questions submitted to us”.

During the Article 2 review process, the EU submitted a series of question to Israel. In its answers to the questions, the Israeli foreign ministry recalled the "strategic reality Israel is facing: since October 7th, Israel has been fighting a war on seven fronts. Iran, with its extremist ideology, is aiming to eliminate the State of Israel. Iran’s regime has long pursued the annihilation of the Jewish state through a nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and a network of terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis."

"This plan erupted violently on 7 October, when Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds, marking the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust," the ministry added.

"It is against this backdrop – Israel’s combat with a host of brutal enemies – that the EU was tasked with doing a ‘rush job’, compiling a biased and extremely one-sided summary of many anti-Israeli voices and documents into a so-called ‘honest report’ for the Member States of the EU."

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