ECVC expresses its profound solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially with Palestinian peasants and rural communities who are trying to keep producing food for the people despite the bombings and displacements. Europe is looking away from Palestine, despite the fact that the situation is worse than ever, both in Gaza and in West Bank. We are deeply shocked by the fact the Israeli government is openly using starvation as a weapon of war, of ethnic cleansing and of genocide. ECVC calls the EU and its member states to stop their complicity and take concrete actions to stop this crime against humanity.
15 May 2025
Since 2 March 2025, the Israeli army has resumed the blockade of all humanitarian, food, health and medical aid to Gaza. This is the longest blockade since the genocidal war began. Two weeks later, Israel’s bombardments of Gaza restarted with force, intensifying the decimation of the people of Gaza including many humanitarian workers and thousands of children. In a report issued by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) confirms that the ongoing Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip has deliberately and extensively targeted Gaza’s agricultural sector and food production systems. According to UN, these actions are driving “the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip since October 2023”. Children are starving in Gaza while food aid is rotting at the Rafah checkpoint.
In West Bank too, we witness daily bombing and population displacement. Rural people and especially peasants are the first target of Israeli settlers, who are stealing the ancestral land of Palestinian farmers, as well as stealing their animals, destroying their crops and preventing them from accessing their fields. The colonization of West Bank is happening before our eyes.
On average, more than 60 Palestinian civilians are killed every day by the Israeli army. Now the Israeli Prime Minister has announced publicly the plan to displace all people out of Gaza and take control of the territory. Mass displacement and ethnic cleansing are crimes against humanity.
Yet, the EU and EU member states remain silent and some countries even continue to deliver weapons to the genocidal power. Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food declared that “without the support of allies such as the United States and Germany, Israel would not be able to implement its starvation campaign and commit genocide”.
ECVC calls for an immediate ceasefire and for unconditional access for humanitarian aid to Gaza. We denounce the complicity of the European Union and its Member States, particularly in the continuing arms shipments to Israel.
We call on the European Union and the member states to:
It is vital that the international community, particularly the European Union and its member states, act to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza and all human rights abuses in Palestine.