In its 2025 Foreign Policy Declaration, the Swedish government stated that international law is a cornerstone of Sweden's foreign policy, and that Israel must protect the civilian population in Gaza and ensure access to humanitarian aid. ButSweden has not lived up to these principles and instead has withdrawn support for Palestinians. As EU foreign ministers meet once again on 14 April to discuss the situation, Sweden should push for concrete measures to stop the crimes againstPalestinians in Gaza and hold those responsible to account.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in southern Israel, killing 1,195 people, of which about 815 were civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. Nothing can justify these crimes. The EU has rightly condemned the abuses and demanded the release of the hostages.
But neither can anything justify the serious crimes committed by the Israeli authorities in Gaza. More than 50,000 people, including 15,600 children, are estimated to have been killed amid the Israeli attacks. Thousands more are feared to be lying dead under the rubble or to have died from diseases caused by lack of medical care, medicines, or clean water. Israeli forces have repeatedly displaced the majority of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, destroyed and damaged most of Gaza's buildings, including hospitals, leaving large parts of Gaza uninhabitable and leading to a near-total collapse of its health system. Recently released video footage appears to show that Israel fired at and killed more than a dozen paramedicsand rescue workers.
In breach of its obligations as an occupying power and of three binding rulings by the International Court of Justice, Israel has prevented aid from entering and cut off electricity and water, causing immense suffering for the civilian population. The use of starvation as a weapon of war is one of the crimes for which the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The failure of Sweden and other states to act in light of these well-documented abuses has facilitated the situation. Sweden needs to act without delay to prevent further atrocities.
1. Reassess Sweden's aid strategy
In December 2024, the Swedish government decided to stop financially supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency, the only humanitarian organization able to deliver large-scale assistance to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring countries. The Swedish government claims it will redirect support to other humanitarian actors in the region, but experts, countriesand the UN have concluded that there are no sustainable alternatives.
In addition, Sweden has decided to withdraw financial support to key human rights organizations in Palestine. Sweden should reconsider its aid strategy. These decisions aggravate an already dire situation. It should resume its support for UNRWA as well as to the Palestinian human rights organizations and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program, which protects Palestinians from abuses by the military and violent settlers.
2. Comply with the decisions of international courts
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), making several legal rulings, including that Israel's presence and annexation in the occupied territory is illegal. It also described how Israeli settlements in the OPT violate international law.
The ICJ ruling places a responsibility on the international community to ensure that international relations “do not contribute to the maintenance of the illegal situation.” The Court clearly states that this applies to all economic relations, including EU's various agreements and trade arrangements with Israel.
Sweden exports and imports munitions from Israeli companies and has not banned trade or business with Israel’s illegal settlements.
Sweden should work with the EU to ban the import and export of goods and services from and to Israel's illegal settlements and suspend any activity that may make Sweden complicit in Israel's violations of international law. Sweden should also suspend arms transfers and other military aid to Israel so long as there is a risk that they may be used for war crimes and other serious violations of the laws of war.
3. Ensure that the agreements between the EU and Israel are upheld
Ahead of the last EU-Israel Association Council meeting in February, EU member states unanimously agreed on an EU position with clear calls for Israeli action in both Gaza and the West Bank.
But the Israeli authorities have done the exact opposite of what the EU called for: Israel has once again blocked humanitarian aid and launched a wave of airstrikes in Gaza, killing hundreds, and increased abuses in the West Bank, killing and injuring scores and displacing entire Palestinian communities.
In the absence of progress, Sweden should support Spain and Ireland's demand to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement and urge targeted sanctions against Israeli officials responsible for serious violations in Gaza and in the West Bank.
Sweden and the EU are not powerless to stop these abuses. They have chosen to be passive. The Swedish government has chosen not to act in accordance with its stated commitments and principles, and this passivity has had a human cost. Sweden should change course to prevent further abuses and support justice, human rights and a rules-based world order.
