European Commission proposes partially suspending Israel from Horizon programme | European Commission

The European Commission has proposed partly suspending Israel from its flagship £80bn Horizon science research programme over the “severe” humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where food security experts say famine is now under way.

It comes amid worldwide condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza including demands by Donald Trump that it must do more to stop the “real starvation”. On Tuesday, the leading international authority on food crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza.

More than 20 member states expressed “serious concerns” about the current situation in Gaza at the EU ambassadors meeting on Tuesday to discuss the proposal.

Some gave immediate support to the proposal, with a few expressing concern that a suspension from Horizon would “hamper the dialogue” with Israel, a diplomat said. The member states agreed to work quickly with the commission to clarify technical days before reviewing the proposal again.

Horizon Europe is among the most prestigious science research programmes in the world and has never suspended a country before. Officials believe, however, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is so extreme that it now has a legal basis for suspension.

In its proposal to member states the commission reports that “90% of households face severe water insecurity and malnutrition rates are rising sharply” with “severe shortages of medicine” and “virtually the entire Gaza population … at risk of famine”.

The IPC said “humanitarian aid is largely insufficient”, citing Israel’s “drastic restrictions” on aid shipments into Gaza, and a lack of security for humanitarian organisations inside Gaza.

Israel has blamed food shortages on distribution failures by the UN and Hamas diverting aid. Those claims have been repeatedly undermined.

Israel said on Tuesday that “over 200 trucks were collected and distributed yesterday by the UN and international organisations” with an additional 260 awaiting collection and distribution.

That volume of aid is, however, still below the levels needed. An average of 500 trucks a day entered Gaza before the war, at at time when people had not endured months of malnutrition, most had shelter and access to clean water and there was a functioning agriculture sector.

EU officials described the current aid increases as an improvement but said they had been denied access to Gaza to verify the delivery of humanitarian aid and that there needed to be more entry points and distribution centres.

Their proposal, if approved, would deny Israel access to one of the critical research areas within the Horizon programme, called the European Innovation Council (EIC), which specialises in disruptive technologies.

Israel is one of the most successful member countries in the programme, receiving about €200m (£173m) of the €900m allocated since 2021, with about €135m in grants and €65m in equity investment.

There are 46 Israeli companies in the EIC programme, the EU said.

The commission said in a statement: “While Israel has announced a daily humanitarian pause in Gaza fighting and has met some of its commitments under the common understanding on humanitarian aid and access, the situation remains severe.”

It added that the suspension would flow from its review of the trade association agreement with Israel, prompted by calls for a review of the agreement by the Netherlands backed by 17 countries in May.

Officials said the partial suspension would be given legal effect through article 79 of the Euro-Mediterranean agreement if the action was deemed “proportionate”.

A seven-page proposal will be put to ambassadors from member states gathering in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the EU-US trade deal.

According to the rules the EU would need a qualified majority, which means votes from about 15 member states, to carry it through as long as they represent 65% of the bloc’s population.

This would almost certainly mean Germany would have to support the move.

Senior EU officials said the mood at the ambassadors’ meeting last week on the matter of humanitarian aid was “heated” and there seemed to be a “special urgency” about putting this proposal on the table.

The UK was blocked from Horizon for three years after Brexit, rejoining in 2024, but officials said this was different from a suspension.