A group of 209 former European Union and member state ambassadors and senior officials has issued an open letter urging immediate action against Israel over what they describe as unlawful policies in Gaza and the West Bank. The appeal comes ahead of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Gymnich, Germany, on 29–30 August 2025.
The letter, addressed to EU heads of state and government, the presidents of the European Council, Commission, and Parliament, as well as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, calls on the bloc to adopt concrete measures after weeks of inaction. The signatories include 110 former EU ambassadors and senior staff, along with 99 former diplomats from France, Germany, and Italy.
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced people, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
The former diplomats warn that Israel has begun implementing plans to forcibly move one million Palestinians from Gaza City into concentration areas in the south, raising fears of large-scale deportations and a migration crisis.
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
They cite the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report of 22 August, which confirmed a man-made famine in parts of Gaza. According to the letter:
- Over 500,000 people face starvation.
- 132,000 children under five are at risk of malnutrition through June 2026.
- By September 2025, 640,000 people (a third of Gaza’s population) could face catastrophic food insecurity.
- Already 200 people, including 60 children, have died from malnutrition.
Since 28 July, the letter continues, more than 2,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, many of them women and children, with over 12,000 injured.
SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB Mourners stand next to the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire while trying to receive aid and others killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, according to medics, during a funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Restrictions on aid and media
The signatories accuse Israel of blocking humanitarian aid, noting that UNRWA and more than 100 international NGOs have been prevented from operating since March. Other aid deliveries have been obstructed, they say, while militarised aid operations have violated UN humanitarian principles.
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
International journalists remain barred from Gaza, while over 200 local reporters and media workers have been killed, including eleven in targeted attacks.
Settlement expansion and West Bank violence
The letter also highlights Israel’s recent approval of 3,400 new housing units in the contested E1 area, which the diplomats say would sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank and undermine the two-state solution.
A member of Israeli troops stands guard during a weekly settlers’ tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Meanwhile, violent settler activity continues. The letter cites the killing of Odeh Hathalin, a well-known West Bank human rights campaigner, as an example of escalating attacks.
EU credibility at stake
The signatories express “profound disappointment” at the EU’s failure to act, warning that inaction undermines Europe’s credibility not only in the Middle East but also in rallying international support for Ukraine. They stress that, if the EU as a whole does not move, individual member states or coalitions must take unilateral steps.
Proposed national actions
The letter outlines nine concrete measures that EU member states could adopt independently, including:
- Suspending arms export licenses to Israel, including dual-use equipment.
- Withdrawing from joint research agreements with Israeli institutions under Horizon Europe.
- Ending collaboration between public universities and Israeli entities linked to alleged atrocity crimes.
- Imposing visa bans, asset freezes, and other national sanctions.
- Prohibiting trade in goods and services from Israeli settlements, following Slovenia’s recent ban.
People hold a banner as demonstrators from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign call for an arms embargo on Britain’s weapons exports to Israel, as part of the group’s Summer of Action for Gaza, at RAF High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, Britain August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
- Divesting public funds from companies tied to settlements.
- Banning Israeli military vessels and aircraft from ports, airspace, and transit stops.
- Prosecuting suspected war crimes under universal jurisdiction laws.
- Blocking data centres and platforms in Europe from processing Israeli government or commercial data related to occupied territories.
Call for EU leadership
The letter concludes by urging the EU to act “consistent with core European values” and with the overwhelming concerns of European citizens. “States and institutions claiming to support human rights and uphold international law must lead by example with action – not just words,” the signatories write.
