Minister Bettel Calls for Ceasefire, Increased Pressure on Israel

On Friday 16 May 2025, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Xavier Bettel, presented the Grand Duchy's current position on the Israel-Gaza conflict to the press.

He recalled Hamas' brutal 7 October 2023 attack and stressed Israel’s right to defend itself. He argued, however, that the Israeli military response had gone beyond proportionality and self-defence. Minister Bettel expressed concern over the growing number of deaths in Gaza and stressed the toll on civilians, also in the West Bank. He criticised Israel's aid blockade, which has continued in Gaza for over two months, and warned that continued bombings risked radicalising young people, many of whom were also being deprived of an education.

He stopped short of calling Israel's policy "genocide", arguing that this is a legal rather than political term. However, he said current actions were "not justified, not proportional and not normal", and urged Israel to "Stop!"

Minister Bettel reiterated his belief in dialogue, noting how he has maintained contact with both sides. However, he reiterated that Israeli military actions in Gaza are "unacceptable", stressing the need for Luxembourg, the European Union and the wider international community to increase pressure on Israel. He noted that Luxembourg supports a Dutch proposal to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement to determine whether Israel's actions in Gaza violate Article 2 of the agreement, which is based on respect for human rights; such a violation could result in suspension of the agreement. Support is growing for the proposal, although EU27 unanimity is still needed. Minister Bettel also welcomed the French and Saudi-backed UN conference on a two-state solution, which will take place in New York in June.

"As long as there is no peace in Palestine, there will be no security in Israel," Minister Bettel stressed, emphasising the need for a ceasefire, a two-state solution, demilitarisation and deradicalisation, as well as reconstruction at a later stage.

However, he also stood by his position not to recognise the State of Palestine at this stage; he said this would be merely symbolic and he advocated more concrete actions, for example at the upcoming conference in New York.

Ahead of the press conference, a small group of people gathered outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with banners calling on the Luxembourg government to take action in response to Israel's "genocide" and "crimes against humanity". A representative of the Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (CJPO) handed out a press release in which the organisation criticised the stance of the Democratic Party (DP - Minister Bettel's political party) on the potential extension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement - there was disagreement on this subject among Luxembourg MPs in the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month.