McEntee urges counterparts to suspend EU-Israel agreement

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee says she will urge her EU counterparts to agree the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement at today's ministerial meeting, or at the very least agree to suspend its trade elements.

Ireland and Spain first sought a review of the agreement in 2024, but such was the opposition from pro-Israel member states that it failed to reach a consensus.

Last year a Dutch initiative did prompt a review, one which found that Israel had "likely" breached its obligations.

A suspension of trade relations was put on the table but not put into effect as Israel had pledged to significantly boost humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Ministers will again assess Israel's compliance with Article 2, which binds both parties to human rights obligations, in light of Israel's new death-penalty law, escalating attacks by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and the invasion of Lebanon.

Speaking in Luxembourg ahead of the meeting, Ms McEntee said: "We need to, as an EU, uphold our fundamental values, and we need to be clear that countries that we associate with, and have agreements with, that they are upholding values and laws."

"Israel has, since our last meeting, enacted a new law which essentially introduces the death penalty, but in particular penalises and specifically targets Palestinian people.

"It's completely unacceptable, and so we have asked for a suspension of the Israeli agreement, if not, then a suspension on the trade elements of the Israeli agreement," Ms McEntee told RTÉ News.

The minister said there had been an "unprecedented and unacceptable" escalation by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, with 34 new illegal settlements established in recent weeks.

"We also now have what can be only seen as an unacceptable decrease in humanitarian aid into Gaza as well. So we need to act."

Ms McEntee acknowledged that it may not be possible for EU foreign ministers to reach agreement today.

However, she said it was "very clear" there had been a shift in sentiment at EU level against Israel, including from EU leaders, adding that it was better for the EU to act in unison on the issue.

She said the initial soundings from the incoming Hungarian government had been clear and that Budapest now wanted to work constructively with the EU, having previously persistently blocked sanctions against violent Jewish settlers.

The minister also said she had been in contact with the new Hungarian foreign minister, Anita Orban, and was hopeful that Hungary would now lift its opposition to the €90 billion loan to Ukraine.

Arriving at the meeting, the Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares, who co-signed a letter with Ms McEntee calling for the suspension of the Association Agreement, said: "If we are not capable of saying today to Israel that only respecting human rights, respecting international law, not making war its only foreign policy tool, and accepting that there must be a different way to relate with its neighbours in the Middle East is different than just waging war, we are going to lose our credibility.

"We have to say the same thing that we say to Russia concerning Ukraine, and that we say in other scenarios."

Ms Kallas has hinted that the trade measures could be revived, but again they would need all 27 EU foreign ministers on board.

During a donor conference in Brussels yesterday, Ms Kallas announced that the bill for the reconstruction of Gaza had risen to $71 billion.

EU foreign ministers will also meet the Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salaam at today’s meeting in Luxembourg.

Ms McEntee said Irish people were "well aware" of the importance Ireland placed on the need for a sustainable peace in Lebanon.

"Our troops have been there for many decades and have contributed to that peace. What we've seen in recent weeks, because of the actions of Israel, but Hezbollah, of course, as well, is a setback of many, many decades," she said.

However, in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, seen by RTÉ News, the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar, said UNIFIL and the Lebanese armed forces were guilty of a "total failure" to prevent Hezbollah from firing "thousands of missiles, rockets and [drones] toward populated areas" in Northern Israel.

He described Lebanon as "an occupied state. Hezbollah, acting on behalf of Iran, controls the country and has turned it into a terror state".

The minister wrote: "While the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces claimed in January 2026 to have achieved full operational control over the area south of the Litani River, Hezbollah has launched a massive number of missiles, rockets and UAVs from this area since 2 March 2026.

"IDF forces uncovered substantial stockpiles of weapons in underground sites and homes that had not been handled by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Lebanese government did not dismantle Hezbollah’s weapons infrastructure, did not prevent rocket fire toward Israel, and did not address its financial or educational networks."

Separately, Ms McEntee referred to the unregistered US military overflights, saying that once the Department of Foreign Affairs error was brought to her attention, the situation was rectified.

Asked if the government would now seek US prior authorisation if overflights were military in nature, the minister said: "We've taken, and have had in place for many decades, a similar position that's now been taken by Spain and other countries as well.

"We are very clear: if you are flying overhead, if there is any type of landing, it is not possible, and it's not within our rules and our guidelines if you are military personnel and you're engaged in any type of conflict.

"We restate that position, but I do believe it's very well known by the US and that has been the case for many decades."