Israel and the European Union held talks Monday in Brussels on the issues of Gaza and Iran during a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council.
The meeting was chaired by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The Council is the European Union’s highest-level bilateral meeting between Israel and the EU and is held in accordance with the EU-Israel Association Agreement signed in the year 2000.
Sa’ar also held a series of personal meetings with foreign ministers from the European Union on the sidelines of the forum, including talks with the foreign ministers of Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, and Hungary.
During his meetings, Sa’ar raised the issue of the Iranian threat, stating that now is the time for countries to enforce sanctions and to impose new sanctions on Iran – which poses a threat to the peace of the entire region.
“We do not rule out an extension of the temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of more hostages,” Sa’ar told his European counterparts.
“It will not happen without the release of hostages. We are committed to the release of our hostages and to the war’s objectives that we set,” he said.
It has been more than two years since the last such meeting (Oct. 2022), which came after a 10-year hiatus.
Israel Denies Entry to EU Anti-Israel Parliamentarian
While Sa’ar and Kallas were engaged in talks, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel announced Monday afternoon that Israel would deny entry to European Parliament member Rima Hassan upon her arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport for talks in the Palestinian Authority. And when she landed in Israel, she was promptly deported.
De retour comme elle était venue : la députée européenne Rima Hassan, qui avait justifié le massacre du 7 octobre, est expulsée d'Israël pic.twitter.com/AfSg2TIV1l
— GENGIS KHAN ?? ?? ? (@GENGIS9999) February 24, 2025
Hassan, 32, has for years incited against the State of Israel. Her family immigrated to France from Syria when she was 9-years-old.
“Hassan, who is expected to land from Brussels in the coming hour, consistently works to promote boycotts against Israel in addition to numerous public statements both on social media and in media interviews,” Arbel’s office said before she arrived.
Recently, Hassan blamed Israel for the deaths of the Bibas family, repeating claims made by Hamas following their capture. “Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas were killed by an Israeli strike,” she wrote on social media. However, Israeli pathologists confirmed that the three were murdered in November 2023.
According to Israel Hayom, Hassan arrives daily at the European Parliament sessions wearing a keffiyeh. She has claimed the Hamas terrorist organization is a legitimate “resistance movement” and has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide,” according to the German newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine.
?? résolution 3070 (XXVIII) de l’assemblée générale des nations unies : réaffirme la légitimité de la lutte des peuples pour se libérer de la domination coloniale et étrangère et de l’emprise étrangère par tous les moyens en leur pouvoir y compris la lutte armée. pic.twitter.com/WkaGYxPsHm
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) February 23, 2025
Hassan has also repeatedly justified the invasion of southern Israel and slaughter of 1,200 innocent people by Hamas-led terrorists and Gaza civilians on October 7, 2023.
The anti-Israel activist and others who accompanied her were deported back to Brussels.
Content from TPS was used in this report.
