European commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel meant “a page can be turned". Photograph: Adnan Beci/ AFP via Getty Images
The European Union (EU) is Israel’s most valuable trading partner and the biggest financial donor to the Palestinian Authority. So why has it appeared to be little more than a bystander during two years of war in Gaza?
Despite having leverage in the region through those economic ties and financial contributions, the EU failed to restrain Israel’s destruction of Gaza and exert real pressure to end the fighting.
It was US president Donald Trump who forced the current ceasefire deal between
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