Nine European Union countries have sent a letter to the European Commission urging action on EU trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to a report published by Reuters on Thursday. The letter cited by the news agency calls for proposals on how to halt this trade.
The letter, addressed to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, was signed by the foreign ministers of Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, the report said.
European Ministers to Meet With Iran Over Nuclear Concerns
With tensions escalating in the Middle East, European ministers are reportedly preparing to meet with Iranian officials in Geneva for crucial nuclear talks. The meeting, set for Friday, is part of an effort by Germany, France, and the UK to prevent further instability in the region, Reuters reported, quoting a German diplomatic source that confirmed the talks to the news agency.
The ministers are scheduled to meet with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas before engaging in direct discussions with Iran’s foreign minister, the report said, adding thatthese talks are part of a European initiative aimed at ensuring Iran’s nuclear program remains strictly civilian amid fears of further escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The recent military exchanges between the two countries have raised alarms, with Israel launching extensive military strikes on Iran and Tehran retaliating by sending waves of missiles at Israeli targets.
According to the report, the primary objective of the EU ministers is to secure Iranian guarantees that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful as part of efforts to avoid a nuclear arms race in the region. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has voiced strong support for Israel’s actions while also pushing Iran to de-escalate.
Israel Defence Minister Says Khamenei Can’t Be Allowed to Exist
Meanwhile, Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz while visiting the site of a missile strike at a hospital in Holon, said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “the modern Hitler” and “cannot continue to exist,” The Times of Israel reported.
Katz said under the IDF’s war goals, “without question this man should not continue to exist.”
“A dictator like Khamenei, who heads a country like Iran and has made the destruction of the State of Israel his declared goal, this horrific goal of destroying Israel, cannot be allowed to continue or materialize,” The Times of Israel quoted him as saying.
“I compare it to the scenario in which, during the horrific Holocaust, if the State of Israel had existed and a strong Israel Defence Forces had existed, and we knew we could send the IDF into a bunker to capture the enemy of the Jewish people, Hitler, in order to thwart his plan to annihilate the Jews, we would have done it,” he reportedly said.
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