The ongoing genocide in Gaza, while most of the world watches, is horrendous. There is no doubt in anybody's mind that the state of Israel is after the complete extermination of the Palestinian nation. The Israeli leaders said it in not so many words.

Those leading the state of Israel are treating the Palestinian nation in the same way that Jews were treated by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime.

The recognition of Palestine as a state, though of substantial symbolic significance, will not solve anything at this late stage. What matters mostly, now, is the immediate halting of the flow of arms to the state of Israel. The continuous flow of arms, primarily from the United States of America, is what makes this genocide possible. All those states arming the state of Israel, primarily the United States of America, are complicit in the large-scale extermination in hand at Gaza. They continuously make the genocide possible.

This is a crime against humanity carried out by the state of Israel and made possible by those supplying it with arms.

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the request of the state of South Africa, applying the provisions of the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.​​​​​​​

The situation, after sixteen months, is even worse, with Israel now also making use of starvation as an instrument of war.

In the wake of the Israeli atrocities in Gaza the Dutch government has taken the initiative to propose a review of the association agreement between the European Union and the Israeli state, which agreement has been in force since June 2000. A majority of EU member states, Malta included, have indicated support for the Dutch initiative during a meeting of the EU Foreign ministers earlier this week.

The association agreement between the EU and the Israeli state provides the framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation. The European Union is Israel's biggest trading partner. In 2024 EU exports to Israel amounted to €26.7 billion. This includes the export of arms, mostly from Germany. Germany is the source of 30 per cent of the weapons and armaments imported by the Israeli state, the rest mostly being sourced from the United States of America.

The Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has emphasised that the EU needs to review its association agreement with Israel as a matter of priority to ensure that it is in line with basic humanitarian law. Failure by Israel to uphold humanitarian law is in breach of article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Veldkamp told Politico earlier this week.

At the end of the day the state of Israel is accountable to the international community for its criminal actions. The initiative of the Dutch government is welcome. Even though late in the day it is a small step in the right direction. Maybe the EU should act on an arms embargo immediately. Even Germany has to shoulder its responsibility for the genocide in Gaza as it has made it possible through the arms it has continuously supplied Israel. The sooner an EU arms embargo against Israel is in place the better.

An architect and civil engineer, the author is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta.  [email protected] ,   http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com