Protestors rally outside EU meeting, demand action on Israel-Palestine conflict

Protestors gathered outside the venue hosting the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, urging the bloc to "halt its complicity in Israel's war crimes against Palestine."

Carrying Palestinian flags and banners with messages such as "Stop the genocide" and "End trade with Israel," demonstrators voiced their demands loudly, condemning ongoing violence in Gaza and calling for immediate action from EU leaders.

Among the protesters were members of the European Parliament (EP), including Irish EP representative Mick Wallace, who expressed stark criticism of the EU's stance.

Speaking to Anadolu, Wallace emphasized the urgent need for European politicians to change their approach.

"How will the EU ever talk about human rights again? We now see that they use human rights as a weapon against countries they want to defeat but cannot agree with. They don't care about human rights. They don't care about the lives of Palestinians," he said.

Pointing out that Israel should be tried for the crime of genocide, Wallace said: "I hope the International Court of Justice is powerful enough to truly call this genocide. Ask any politician, if this is not genocide, tell us what it is. Because this is certainly genocide. Everyone knows this. The masks of (European politicians) supporting genocide have been removed."

Ludo De Brabander, another demonstrator, stressed the necessity of immediate action from EU foreign ministers.

He called for a ceasefire and urged the imposition of sanctions against Israel, including the suspension of the partnership agreement between Israel and the EU.

"We want a ceasefire and an end to the war crimes committed by Israel," De Brabander said, highlighting Europe's economic leverage and the need to utilize it to halt Israeli aggression.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed over 29,000 people and injured over 69,000 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.