MEP João Oliveira calls for suspension of EU-Israel agreement

BRUSSELS – The MEP João Oliveira (PCP) presented a resolution proposal for the suspension of the European Union (EU) cooperation agreement with Israel, following the attacks on the populations in Gaza and the blockade of humanitarian aid.
The resolution proposal, co-signed by 15 other MEPs – the majority from the Left parliamentary group, to which Oliveira belongs, three from the Greens, and two non-attached – aims to “send a strong political signal with economic impact as well,” said João Oliveira to Lusa.
Arguing that the EU must exert “political pressure to end the genocide in Gaza” and also the interventions in the West Bank, the MEP also emphasized that the EU-Israel cooperation agreement has an important financial aspect, particularly in the fields of science and research.
João Oliveira has already sent written questions to the European Commission and the EU Council on the subject, but added that “with the resolution, it gains another weight, particularly due to the support of other political groups.”
“We will insist that the formal process can be quickly processed and seek to apply pressure for it to be debated in the next possible plenary session,” he added.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.
Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 58 remain held in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead, according to the army.
On Sunday, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced that at least 1,574 Palestinians had been killed since the resumption of Israeli military operations on March 18, raising the death toll in Gaza to 50,944 since the beginning of the Israeli response, 18 months ago. (04/15/25)