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The Brussels-Capital Region Parliament made history as the first in Belgium and Europe to pass a resolution calling for sanctions on the Israeli occupation, according to the BDS movement. The resolution urges the Brussels government to withhold weapon licenses to Israel, stop supporting companies linked to its military, and sever cooperation with firms listed in the UN database.
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The Israeli army withdrew from the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Friday in accordance with the terms of the cease-fire agreement, which went into effect on January 19.
According to Israeli Army Radio, the army handed over the crossing to an international force from the European Union (EU) in preparation for its reopening later on Friday.
The radio, which quoted a security source without mentioning his name, noted that the Israeli army has redeployed its forces in an area along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Besides the EU mission, the source said Palestinians from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority will run the crossing from the Palestinian side, with the role being to stamp existing permits from Gaza.
The broadcaster’s correspondent, Doron Kadosh, said 50 wounded Palestinians will be allowed every day to travel in addition to three escorts to each injured, totaling 200 people every day.
He added that all names of wounded people and their escorts will be checked by the Israeli general security service Shin Bet, along with Egyptian approval on the names.
The EU on Friday resumed its Rafah border crossing mission connecting the southern Gaza Strip to Egypt, including for Palestinians needing medical care.
“Europe is here to help: the EU’s civilian border mission deploys today to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on X.
The Palestinian Health Ministry also confirmed that the crossing would open on Saturday for the first batch of wounded people to leave Gaza.
It added that their travel is planned in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
The Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since May 2024 after Israel’s ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
On Jan. 19, a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel went into effect, initially lasting 42 days, during which negotiations will continue for subsequent phases of the deal. The agreement is mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever according to Anadolu.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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The European Union has provided over $250 million in research funding to Israeli institutions since 7 October, 2024, despite mounting criticism over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. Some of these funds have gone to organizations linked to Israel’s military industry.
On the day Israel launched its assault on Gaza, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen voiced strong support for Israel. “Israel has a right to defend itself,” she said in a statement, reiterating the EU’s alignment with Israel.
Since then, Israel has faced genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and indictments against its leaders at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Yet, the EU continues to fund Israeli institutions under its Horizon research and innovation programme.
Data analyzed by Al Jazeera shows that the EU awarded Israeli institutions over €238 million ($250 million) in research grants since the Gaza genocide began. Among the recipients was Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a defense manufacturer, which received €640,000 ($674,000).
Though Horizon guidelines require funded projects to be exclusively for civil purposes, many technologies developed with EU support have dual-use applications—both civil and military.
More than 2,000 European academics and 45 organizations petitioned the EU to suspend funding to Israeli institutions, accusing the Horizon programme of advancing Israel’s military technologies.
“These funding schemes directly support Israeli military capabilities,” the petition stated. It highlighted the role of EU-backed research in Israel’s actions in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.
Many Horizon projects in Israel focus on dual-use technologies. For instance, IAI developed drone mapping tools with EU funds for “emergency response.” Critics argue such tools can easily serve military purposes.
Elbit Systems, another defense company, received over €10 million ($11.2 million) under earlier Horizon frameworks. The company has strong ties to Israel’s Ministry of Defence.
A large portion of Horizon funds goes to Israeli universities. Scholars like Maya Wind argue these institutions are deeply embedded in Israel’s military industry.
“Israeli universities are pillars of the military-industrial complex,” Wind said. Institutions like the Technion and Weizmann Institute have spearheaded defense technology development for decades according to the Quds News Network.
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Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said Thursday, his country is ready to cooperate with the International Criminal Court regarding the implementation of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Polish Foreign Ministry has adopted an interpretation that states that Poland, like the other 124 member states of the Rome Statute, is obligated to cooperate with the International Criminal Court to implement the court’s orders and in its name, not in the name of the states,” Szejna added.
“Immunity and sovereignty that are usually used in international relations between states do not apply to this case,” he stressed.
“Poland considers the International Criminal Court an essential element of international criminal justice and international relations based on law,” the Polish Foreign Minister added.
“Poland’s position is clear. Poland respects the decisions of the International Criminal Court and will implement them,” he continued.
The Commission of the European Union previously stated that it “supports the International Criminal Court, and all EU countries are obligated to implement the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.”
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, accusing them of “committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in oIsrael’s] war on the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli occupation army, supported by the United States and Europe, continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip for the 426th consecutive day, as its warplanes bomb the vicinity of hospitals, buildings, towers and homes of Palestinian civilians, destroying them over the heads of their residents, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel.
The ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is urging its member countries to implement the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant.
The Israeli aggression has left more than 150,000 Palestinian martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world according to the Palestine Information Center.
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Former MEP Mick Wallace, in a post on X, called on the European Union to cut ties with the Israeli occupation over its crimes against Palestinian women. Wallace condemned the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian women, emphasizing that tens of thousands of them have been killed during the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
