BREAKING NEWS

EU Council chief warns of 'consequences' of Israel's UNRWA ban for key trade deal

The European Council President warned on Thursday that Israel's decision to ban UNRWA could result in the annulment of a deal establishing Israeli trade relations with Brussels.

"The decision made by parliament in Israel, if implemented, to ban UNRWA in Israel is absolutely not acceptable and I cannot imagine that there would be no consequences on the EU side," Charles Michel told reporters in Geneva.

"I can observe that more and more voices, including at the political level, the highest political level of the EU, are considering that the time will come to put on the table the Association Agreement between Israel and the EU," he said.

The deal, which entered into force in 2000, provides the legal basis for trade between the two parties. An EU website showed that the EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, accounting for 28.8% of its trade in goods in 2022, while Israel is the EU’s 25th biggest trade partner.