EU Council chief warns of ‘consequences’ of Israel’s UNRWA ban for key trade deal
The European Council President warned that Israel’s decision to ban the key UN aid agency for Gaza could result in the annulment of a deal establishing Israeli trade relations with Brussels, Reuters reports.
Israel passed a law on Monday banning the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from operating in the country, raising concerns about its ability to provide relief in Gaza after over a year of conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.
“The decision made by parliament in Israel, if implemented, to ban UNRWA in Israel is absolutely not acceptable and I cannot imagine that there would be no consequences on the EU side,” Charles Michel told reporters in Geneva.
“I can observe that more and more voices, including at the political level, the highest political level of the EU, are considering that the time will come to put on the table the Association Agreement between Israel and the EU,” he said.