It will take place as the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday that after an ‘’intense and contructive’’ dialogue with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, they reached an agreement on ‘’significant steps’’ to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

The question is now whether the 27 EU Foreign Ministers will continue on Tuesday their discussion regarding options prepared by the EU External Service for measures against Israel in lightn of a review of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which deals with human rights.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is to attend a meeting of the EU Southern Neighbourhood Partnership in Brussels on Monday, one a day before EU Foreign Ministers will be meeting to discuss eventual measures against Israel over the Gaza war.

The EU Southern Neighbourhood partnership derives from the 1995 Barcelona Declaration which committed to turn the Mediterranean into “an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation, guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity”, according to an official Commission document.

It involves ministers and other representatives from all 27 EU countries as well as Israel and  Arab countries like Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco,  Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Aurthority whose Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin will reportedly also be present in Brussels for the meeting.

This partnership is part of the broader European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims to foster cooperation and development in the region. The EU and Israel have a close but often fragile relationship, underpinned by the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the EU-Israel Action Plan, which focuses on political dialogue, economic cooperation, and shared values.

Monday’s meeting was originally scheduled to take place in June but it was postponed by the EU because of the situation in Gaza.

Announcement of an agreement with Israel on humanitarian aid to Gaza

It will take place as the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday that after an ‘’intense and contructive’’ dialogue with Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar, they reached an agreement on ‘’significant steps’’ to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. This follows decision’s by the Israeli security cabinet at its meeting last Sunday to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The agreement includesd more trucks, more crossings and more routes for the humanitarian efforts in the coming days.

‘’These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,’’ Kallas said.

In her statement, the EU foreign policy chief added : ‘’These steps include, among other things, the substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non- food items to enter Gaza, the opening of several other crossing points in both the northern and southern areas; the reopening of the Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes; enabling the distribution of food supplies through bakeries and public kitchens throughout the Gaza strip; the resumption of fuel deliveries for use by humanitarian facilities, up to an operational level; the protection of aid workers;  the repair and facilitation of works on vital infrastructure like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility.’’

Kallas said the EU ‘’stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, UN agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps.’’

But an EU spokesperson told reporters on Friday that the U.S. backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has delivered millions of meals to the Gaza population since May, is not part of the deal.

The question is now whether the EU Foreign Ministers will continue on Tuesday their discussion regarding options prepared by the EU External Service for measures against Israel in light of a review of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which deals with human rights. The EU decided in May to launch the review precisely in the framework of the humanitarian situation in Gaza  and Israel’s military actions. But now that the EU and Israel have reached an agreement, would such measures or sanctions still be on the table ?

In the meantime, the Israeli Foreign Minister has  launched a diplomatic offensive to block punitive measures, including a suspension of the EU-Israel political and trade accord, that several E.U. member states, like Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are pushing to adopt.