Palestinians search through the rubble of buildings destroyed the previous day by Israeli strikes in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, on July 16, 2025. (Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
The association JURDI – Lawyers for the Respect of International Law announced Wednesday that it has filed a failure to act lawsuit with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against the European Commission and the Council of the European Union for their "serious and prolonged inaction in the face of violations of international law" in Gaza.
"Despite ... the avalanche of evidence documenting an ongoing genocide in Gaza, no suspension of cooperation agreements, no restrictive measures and no emergency audit have been undertaken. No action has been taken to halt the flow of funding and military technology transfers, in direct violation of international and European law," the association stated.
"When institutions know, are able, but do nothing, it is called passive complicity," said Patrick Zahnd, president of JURDI. The association is asking the Court to "formally recognize this failure" and "order the EU institutions to suspend their cooperation with Israel."
The official presentation of the lawsuit will take place on July 17 at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Meeting for the last time before the summer break in the Belgian capital, the countries of the European Union decided Tuesday to keep their options open for potentially sanctioning Israel because of the situation in Gaza, without making any decisions at this stage, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed.
A European Commission report presented to the 27 member states at the end of June found that Israel had violated Article 2 of its association agreement with the EU concerning respect for human rights. As a result, Kallas has prepared a list of possible options: suspending the entire deal, banning exports from the occupied Palestinian territories, revising visa policy or suspending the trade section of the association agreement.
The prospect of sanctions had diminished after Kallas announced last week a deal with Israel meant to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, with Israel agreeing to let in about 160 aid trucks per day, compared to 500 trucks daily before Oct. 7, 2023, the date of the Hamas attack on Israeli territory.
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