October 21, 2025 | 07:09 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A group of demonstrators held an overnight sit-in protest in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on late Monday. They urged the European Union not to normalize relations with Israel and continue to press Tel Aviv amid the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
As reported by Anadolu, the demonstrators brought sleeping bags and umbrellas and stayed overnight in front of the European Commission building.
They demanded that the European Union suspend the association agreement with Israel and hold it accountable for alleged humanitarian crimes in Gaza.
The police intervened several times as the protesters unfurled banners with the words "We've been here for 25 hours non-stop," and "End EU complicity."
Pressure to End Trade Agreement
The spokesperson for the protest and activist, Laura Sullivan, stated that the protest aimed to push the European Union to take stronger actions against Israel.
"The aim of the protest is to get the EU to terminate the EU-Israel Association Agreement, or otherwise known as the trade agreement," she said.
Sullivan assessed that the current ceasefire in Gaza is still very partial.
"It's just the first stage. There has been no justice for genocide, and in all of this, the question is, what is the European Union going to do?" she said.
Proposal for Sanctions Against Israel
The European Commission, after almost two years of silence on Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, proposed sanctions targeting the Israeli government and two of its hardline ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, on September 10.
The measures include the suspension of certain provisions in the EU-Israel Association Agreement, restrictions on the movement of goods, and the imposition of customs duties on Israeli products.
The proposal also includes sanctions against individuals involved in the occupation of Palestinian territories and still requires the approval of a majority of EU member states.
However, according to a report by Al Jazeera, the draft has not received sufficient support from the 27 EU member countries to be ratified.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, urged the member states to raise tariffs on some Israeli products and impose sanctions on 10 Hamas leaders, Israeli settlers engaged in violence, and two Israeli ministers, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
The European Commission also stated that it would temporarily halt bilateral support to Israel, except for civil society organizations and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
The Commission's statement mentioned that the actions of the Israeli government violate the principles of human rights and democracy that form the basis of the agreement.
The violations, they noted, are related to the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, the aid blockade, and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. European leaders are scheduled to discuss the bloc's position on Israel and Gaza in a meeting on October 23.
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