Europe Talks Big on Gaza but Struggles to Act

European nations are lining up behind a plan to recognize Palestine as a state at this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. Top officials widely condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza, and some have even begun to call the war “genocide.”

But big talk has yet to lead to big action.

The European Union has proposed higher tariffs on Israeli goods, but it is not clear if that will happen. Other efforts to punish the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have stalled amid opposition, notably from Germany.

Actions by individual countries have also fallen short of the rhetoric. Attempts to funnel aid into Gaza have been limited, even as starvation grips the territory. And nations have been accepting only a trickle of asylum seekers from Gaza, with immigration often a domestic political flashpoint.

Belgium has more Palestinian asylum applicants than anywhere else in Europe, likely because of its relatively permissive immigration practices and large existing Palestinian community. But even there, applying for asylum can be difficult. Many hopefuls have been rejected this year. While Belgium has been evacuating its citizens and the family members of its own residents and refugees from Gaza, the country closed its evacuation list, which then numbered about 500 people, in April.

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