EU must suspend agreement with Israel over Gaza, West Bank violations

Brussels, April 17, 2026—European Union officials and foreign ministers should call for a full or partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement during the upcoming Foreign Affairs Council on April 21, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with Israel, including respect for human rights as an essential element.

Israel has engaged in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted, and murdered by the Israel Defense Forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Media infrastructure in Gaza is systematically destroyed, and censorship has been tightened throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Israel, which has also blocked international media independent access to Gaza. 

A formal proposal made by the European Commission in September 2025 to suspend certain trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement has not received sufficient support from EU member states. 

“The European Union has failed to hold Israel to account for its silencing of journalists and violations of international law,” said Tom Gibson, deputy advocacy director, EU. “Our calls to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement have been unheeded by some member states for too long. Now is the time to use the EU’s unique leverage to finally secure justice and accountability.”