Europe begins to act against Israel’s “complete madness” in Gaza, in the wake of a wave of diplomatic incidents.

The wave of diplomatic incidents involving Israel throughout Tuesday (20 May) has been exceptional by any standard.

“The situation in Gaza is unbearable,” a foreign diplomat familiar with the international efforts against Israel told Haaretz. “It’s time to stop. Images of children scrambling for a plate of rice, reports of real hunger, and the fact that Israel isn’t doing enough to facilitate humanitarian aid make it impossible for us to stand by any longer,” he added.

Since Monday, crisis has followed crisis: the leaders of France, the UK and Canada announced they may consider sanctions against Israel; 25 Western countries issued a joint statement expressing concern over Gaza; the UK Government suspended talks on a free trade agreement with Israel; British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced sanctions on Israeli settlers and summoned Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely for a formal reprimand.

At the same time, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard declared her intent to promote sanctions against Israeli ministers – a move that was later blocked. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday that he supports reconsidering the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Just hours later, at the initiative of the Dutch foreign minister, EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss suspending the agreement.

Seventeen of the EU’s 27 member states........

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