Sir, – In a published opinion piece of June 10th, carried in media across Europe, seven European former prime ministers, including former taoiseach Leo Varadkar, together with 17 other high ranking political leaders, made an urgent appeal for the EU to show leadership by agreeing on concrete actions to address the Israeli government’s multiple violations of international law in Palestine and, more specifically, the human rights clause of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. These leaders were reacting to Israel’s conduct in Gaza following the heinous Hamas attacks of October 7th, 2023. Shockingly, 73,000 Palestinians have been killed there, including some 21,500 children, with nearly 1,000 killed since the “ceasefire” of October 2025. The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains utterly devastating. The same leaders also pointed to the violent and relentless expansion of Israeli illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem which have led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and land. Faced with this dire situation, the leaders have called on the EU to suspend the lucrative trade preferences which Israel has been granted under the EU-Israel Agreement and to ban all trade with the illegal settlements, whose population now exceeds 750,000 individuals. The EU should also draw on actions recommended by a group of 470 European former ministers, ambassadors and senior officials.Commendably, Ireland, which will assume the EU presidency in July, has been at the forefront of EU countries demanding a collective response to Israel’s illegal conduct. The injection of new impetus that Ireland will bring can help propel the EU into finally taking actions consistent with the core values of European citizens. – Yours, etc,DR MICHAEL DOYLE (former EU ambassador), Dún Laoghaire, Dublin,JIM MORAN (former EU ambassador), Brussels,RICHARD WRIGHT (former EU ambassador),London.