Response to interpellation 2024/25:729 on the situation in Palestine

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! Ola Möller has asked me whether I and the government, in light of the situation in Palestine, intend to pause the trade agreement.

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The war's unthinkable consequences for the civilian population must come to an end and a ceasefire must be achieved. We have not yet seen that Israel has done enough to live up to the agreement between the EU and Israel. The government therefore wants the pressure on Israel's government to increase, including by the EU freezing the trade part of the association agreement with Israel, and has urged the Commission to present proposals to ensure this happens.

The EU needs to increase the pressure on the Israeli government to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation and respect international humanitarian law. Free, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access is required, and the UN and other humanitarian organizations must be able to carry out their life-saving work under safe conditions.

At the same time, the pressure on Hamas must increase, including through additional sanctions, which the government repeatedly raises within the EU. We have requested proposals from the Commission on how this pressure can be intensified. Hamas bears a heavy responsibility for the situation. Sweden continues to maintain that the hostages in Gaza must be released unconditionally and immediately. Hamas must be disarmed and dissolved and cannot have a place in a future governance of Gaza. That the region's countries are also now clearly standing behind these demands is important and welcome.

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Ola Möller (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister for Foreign Affairs!

I usually do not have difficulty coming up with what to say. The words just seem to come to me. But before this debate, I have actually had difficulty coming up with what to say. After the countless debates we have had here in the chamber on this issue, I feel an enormous frustration. That frustration is really not just directed at the Foreign Minister, but at how terrible the entire situation is.

Of course, my frustration and my inability to find words cannot measure up to the hardships and the suffering that the population of Gaza is subjected to – in many ways, that situation is beyond words. Over 60,000 people, at a low estimate – 3–4 percent of the population – have been killed by bombs, firearms, drones, artillery, diseases, rubble, and starvation. It is therefore difficult to find the words to do the whole thing justice. I do not think it is possible.

The absurd thing is that when one thought it couldn't get any worse, Israel invades Gaza City, a city with 1 million people in a densely populated area. Furthermore, they proceed with the plans to break up the Palestinian state formation by building the E1 settlement in defiance of international law. Discussions are also being held in all seriousness about moving the Palestinian people to Somalia or South Sudan. It is absolutely appalling. Additionally, there is a concrete proposal for a ceasefire for signing by the Netanyahu government, a proposal that Hamas has accepted.

So we have the famine, that which finally made people turn, that which made those who deny it see that now is enough. Sweden's government has previously obviously thought it was quite okay that Palestinians were murdered with firearms and bombs, but Ulf Kristersson now notes that Israel is making it difficult for its friends. But for the Palestinian people, it has been difficult for much longer than since the famine began.

When refugee camps, schools, and hospitals have been bombed, it has always been possible to blame someone else. When ambulance personnel and journalists have been deliberately executed, it has always been explained away. When it comes to the famine, however, it has been too obvious. It cannot be explained away.

Even there, however, the right-wing extremist and fascist government in Israel tries to spread falsehoods. As recently as last week, I believe, they were on Swedish television and did exactly this, and when they are proven wrong, the accusations and disinformation pour down.

The famine has truly turned the debate. It is just insane how long it has taken. The alarms have come. Even for Sweden's government, which by withdrawing support for UNRWA has actively supported Israel in displacing the Palestinian people, this has become too much. That is why I still must say that I appreciate that the government finally turned around regarding pausing the trade agreement. This did, however, happen after the meeting where this was to be decided, and the next meeting is in October.

It can no longer be denied: What is happening in Palestine before our eyes is most likely a genocide. This is what the world's experts are increasingly agreeing on. We must see this, and then we must act. My question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs is therefore whether she can condemn the invasion of Gaza City and the now planned expansion of E1.

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Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! First and foremost, I would like to extend a thank you to Ola Möller, who has initiated this interpellation debate. Thanks also to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is coming here to answer the questions!

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome the shift that we have nevertheless seen from the government in the last few weeks regarding the suspension of the association agreement. But it feels as if it stops there. There is not much more coming, and it is tragic to see. In the Foreign Minister's response, we did not hear a single word about the West Bank despite the fact that the West Bank is definitely mentioned in the question itself – not a word about what is happening there as well, not a word about the occupation that has been ongoing at least since 1967. It is 58 years of settlements and settlement policy, an Israeli policy that constantly supports these settlements and the settlers who are located in the West Bank. It is a policy that has displaced Palestinians for 58 years, a policy that leads to destroyed schools and destroyed wells – often schools and wells that we in the EU have funded and paid for with our tax money.

In July last year, the International Court of Justice issued an opinion regarding precisely the occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. It was stated that Israel must end the occupation and that the settlements must be dismantled. Then also came a demand to the rest of the world not to support the Israeli settlement policy in any way, whether economically or politically.

However, we have not heard anything at all about this from the Swedish government. We hear no form of answer on how we can stop supporting the settlement policy, which is part of the situation in Palestine.

I would therefore like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what steps have been taken since the International Court of Justice's opinion last year to cease supporting Israel's policy, and I am not just talking about words. What other steps have been taken towards Israel?

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Markus Kauppinen (S)

Madam Speaker! Our foreign policy must proceed from a clear compass. It must be grounded in international law, in solidarity with the vulnerable, and in an unwavering faith that diplomacy and international cooperation are the way forward.

It is a social democratic conviction that we stand up for. We have been clear in our condemnation of Hamas's terror, but we have also consistently demanded respect for international law and an immediate end to the civilian suffering in Gaza.

Madam Speaker! Let us be clear: For a sustainable peace, Hamas must lose its influence. A legitimate and democratic Palestinian state cannot be built on the foundation of a terrorist organization.

Now we see that Israel has begun to increase the number of trucks being allowed into Gaza. It is a welcome development, but it also proves our point that political pressure yields results. The threat to freeze the trade component of the association agreement, something the Social Democrats have demanded for months, is not an empty gesture but a signal that makes a government act. This message is, however, weakened by contradictory statements from the Government Offices. When the Foreign Minister says one thing and the Deputy Prime Minister says another, one is not speaking for a nation, but rather speaking with two tongues. A divided voice is not a strong voice.

International law cannot be put on ice. Our moral duty cannot be frozen. A just peace can only be built on freedom, dignity, and an end to the occupation. It cannot be built on ambiguities, half-truths, and a moral cowardice. Let us therefore act now. Let us stand up for international law, for the Palestinian children, who deserve a future, and for a Swedish foreign policy that is clear and direct.

Madam Speaker! I note that the EU, following the government's attempts to show decisiveness, has not frozen the trade agreement but instead has only decided on a review.

When the government cannot even speak with one voice at home, I want to ask the Foreign Minister how she is then going to convince the member states to move from a tame review to a powerful freezing – which the situation requires.

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Eva Lindh (S)

Madam Speaker! I want to begin with a statement. Every time I express an opinion about what is happening in Gaza, quite a few people say that we do not condemn Hamas. I want to say that we naturally condemn the attack that Hamas carried out on October 7, 2023, and that hostages are still being held – just so that it is clearly understood.

I also feel a lump in my throat every time one talks about what is happening in Palestine. It is an immense suffering that people in Gaza are living in, and – as Jacob Risberg pointed out – so also in the West Bank.

If what is happening in Gaza were not so horrific, we would also be able to manage to see what is happening in the West Bank. That is also something we really should do something about. But here we are talking – rightly so – about Gaza, because what is happening is so incredibly appalling.

When one hears what this government says and utters about Gaza, two questions have constantly rung in my head: Where is the limit? Can it get worse? The answer is yes. It could get worse.

Now, Israel's attacks against the population in Gaza have almost been ongoing for two years. Hospitals and emergency services have been attacked. People do not have healthcare. People are dying because they do not receive the care they need. Israel does not allow food to come in. You do not allow food to come in to children, women, and men who are starving.

People are being shot while they wait. Children have been shot in the queues to fetch the necessary water. That is why it is therefore very good that the Foreign Minister now says that one is opening up to freezing the trade agreement with Israel, because this is a means to put increased pressure on Israel.

It is naturally incredibly important, because increased pressure on Israel may be the only possibility to actually put a stop to the hardships and the suffering that people in Gaza are currently experiencing.

That is why one naturally becomes even more distressed when the government does not seem to be able to stay united on this issue. They seem to have reached a decision, and I hope that the statements the Foreign Minister has made are what applies. I hope so, because Sweden, together with all other countries, has an important voice to be able to exert pressure and for the EU to exert pressure on Israel. It is my sincere wish that the Foreign Minister and Sweden, together with the rest of the world, truly act to stop the suffering in Gaza.

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Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! The Government has – contrary to what the interpellants claim – consistently been very clear that Israel must live up to its obligations regarding the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law. I do not know how many times I have said it from this rostrum.

The government has also repeatedly demanded in talks with Israel's government unimpeded humanitarian access and that humanitarian actors should be able to operate in all parts of Gaza. The catastrophic humanitarian situation must be improved, and humanitarian aid must reach the civilians in sufficient extent.

As I also reported, the government has together and unanimously expressed support for and taken initiative for measures to increase the pressure on the Israeli government. This includes support for freezing the trade part of the association agreement between the EU and Israel. The government has urged the EU Commission to submit a concrete proposal. As appears from the memorandum sent to the Foreign Affairs Committee before tomorrow, the government is completely united in this.

The government has also backed a Belgian initiative to have the EU Commission conduct a review of whether the EU, in its trade with Israel, makes sufficient distinction between Israel and illegal settlements. The government also supports the proposal to partially suspend Israel's participation in the Horizon research program.

We view with great concern the continued serious developments in the West Bank and the announced Israeli plans to approve extensive expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

We agree with Kaja Kallas' statement to the EU that this further undermines the two-state solution and that the settlements violate international law. Here too, the government has taken the initiative by being proactive in pushing for EU sanctions – this is referred to in council contexts as The Swedish Proposal – against ministers who push for an illegal settlement policy and actively counter a future two-state solution. Sweden also wants to see EU sanctions against extremist settlers.

We are, therefore, doing a great deal, and Sweden belongs to those countries in the EU that do the most to put pressure on Israel. It is, however, well known that it is difficult to reach unanimity in those cases where measures require unanimity. It is also difficult to reach a qualified majority for those measures that require a qualified majority. This is what I am frustrated about, but I can assure the Chamber that we have a very strong Swedish voice in the room.

That voice is also very strong regarding the need to put additional pressure on Hamas, even through further sanctions. Also here, the government is requesting proposals from the EU institutions on how this pressure can be intensified.

I have also been very clear on the issue of Israel's decision regarding further intensification of the military offensive in Gaza. The decision risks further extensive forced displacements of the civilian population which cannot be reconciled with the requirements of international law.

Sweden and the EU have been clear that Gaza's territory must not be changed, reduced, or annexed. All steps in such a direction, including this, violate international law and are condemned by Sweden. The same applies if the whole or parts of the civilian population are displaced from Gaza.

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Ola Möller (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs and all colleagues participating in the debate.

I think it is positive that the government is now starting to take small, very small steps. However, they are taken far too late and always only in an EU context. There is no hint of unilateral action. I will return to that question.

When it comes to this famine, it arises through a deliberate act. What is so frustrating is that outside the border there is food and medicine that could solve the problem if Israel let these in and allowed UNRWA to distribute them. But the government has withdrawn the funds to UNRWA so that the wages for local employees cannot be paid.

When it comes to UNRWA, it is not as simple as that it cannot function, as the government wants to make it out to be. There are actually staff members walking around and acting today, but they do not receive salaries because the money, for example, is being withdrawn.

Israel also allows food to be dropped from the air. This crushes and kills people who try to get hold of the food. Israel, together with the USA, distributes food in order to shoot people. That is what is happening. Over a thousand people have been shot. This just continues to fuel the killing. To starve or to be shot is the choice that very many people face.

The dimensions of this are completely insane. No other war that a Western power has committed has been proportionally as brutal as this war.

A Western power, a democracy, has never killed such a large proportion of the population in a country that it has bombed. Not even from the carpet bombings over Germany during World War II did such a large proportion of the population die. Aid workers are thrown into mass graves after being shot by the IDF. Journalists are bombed and killed for reporting. Mass deportations are being prepared. Now, further attacks are occurring on Gaza City. This is being done by a leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. It is completely incredible.

We must say a few words about the leadership in Israel in this chamber. Promises were given by Israel to Kallas, but no agreement exists on paper. Israel has not signed anything, and the promises are not being kept. 85 percent of all the trucks that enter the Gaza Strip never reach their destinations. It is not providing full access. They promise help, but they shoot people instead. Israel has attacked aid convoys. They are not only attacking UNRWA employees but de facto also World Food Programme employees, to whom the Swedish government has given money as some kind of pretext for not giving money to UNRWA. The promises given to the EU are therefore worth nothing. Instead, people are being crushed under pallets of food. Israel also broke the previous ceasefire, with a plan for the complete release of the hostages. What does the Foreign Minister say about this?

Then I shall, of course, also condemn Hamas; otherwise, the Foreign Minister will, of course, accuse me of not doing so. But I want to remind everyone who has supported Hamas quite a lot. Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet, said in 2013: If we look over the years, an important contributing factor to Hamas's development is Bibi Netanyahu and his first term as Prime Minister. Ehud Barak said to the army radio: The strategy of keeping Hamas alive, even at the price of abandoning the two-state solution and the citizens in the south, is about weakening the regime in Ramallah. Can the Foreign Minister condemn those who have supported Hamas to the position they are in today?

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Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the answers. Yes, there is a long list of things that are nevertheless being done. I can agree with Member Möller that it is a bit too little and a bit too late. But we can well rejoice in what is nevertheless happening from the Government Offices towards Israel.

One of the things that the Foreign Minister mentions is the review that is to be made of whether the EU makes sufficient distinction between goods from Israel and goods from settlements. The fact that we at all import things from settlements means that we economically support Israel's settlement policy. How else is that to be interpreted? It should be totally forbidden to import goods from settlements, at least if we are to listen to what the International Court of Justice says: that one must not support Israel's settlement policy either politically or economically.

Slovenia goes ahead and says: We ban all imports of goods from Israeli settlements. Is that something Sweden intends to pursue? Are unilateral steps something that Sweden can commit to taking, or must we just follow the EU all the time – then a little bit under the protection of the fact that it is not possible to reach a consensus on these issues?

I would like to know again: What is the Swedish government's position on banning goods from Israeli settlements? If Slovenia, which is also a member of the EU, can take the lead and do so, can the government here in Sweden also consider pursuing that issue?

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Markus Kauppinen (S)

Madam Speaker! The situation in Gaza is appalling, and the pressure on the warring parties to end the war must increase. We all agree on that. We have a collective responsibility to act. In the meantime, we must ensure that all available aid arrives, so that we can avoid more children dying of starvation and diseases. The Palestinian children bear the heaviest burden in the conflict, and their future is directly linked to our ability to act.

Our closest partners, from Germany to our Nordic neighbors such as Finland, have acted with the necessary moral courage and resumed their support for UNRWA, while the Swedish government has chosen to stand aside. With a narrow focus on bureaucracy, they have in practice punished the Palestinian children. They have sacrificed the most basic humanitarian principles to maintain a policy that is so unique it hardly has a single ally. To withdraw support for UNRWA, which has an infrastructure that actually works, while the government boasts about increased aid is to pour a drop of water in the desert and call it an oasis.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs claims that the government has acted with strength regarding the trade agreement. But the only strength I see is how the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Prime Minister have managed to showcase the government's division. The Minister for Foreign Affairs speaks of action, while the Deputy Prime Minister openly calls it a symbolic gesture. Many who agree with me wonder: What is the government's line, really?

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Eva Lindh (S)

Madam Speaker! Hunger and suffering, and people have no possibility of receiving care. People are being shot. Now the residents of Gaza City are fleeing, even though they have nowhere to flee to. All of this is because Israel has stopped food, shot, and attacked. That is why this is happening.

What responsibility does Sweden have in this? Yes, the same responsibility as we always have in foreign policy: to act, to press, and to influence. The government can act more and must act more strongly for this to reach an end.

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Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! The Government, together with the rest of the EU, is monitoring very closely the implementation of the humanitarian agreement concluded in July between the EU and Israel. We have not yet seen that Israel has done enough to live up to the agreement.

But it is not only the agreement with the EU that Israel must live up to, but also international humanitarian law. Israel must take its responsibility and immediately lift all restrictions on the inflow of emergency aid and allow the UN and other emergency organizations to carry out their life-saving work. Everything else is unjustifiable and unacceptable.

It is exactly as Ola Möller says: Trucks are standing at the gates and waiting while children are starving in Gaza. It is appalling and evokes enormous frustration, especially since Sweden is one of the absolute largest financiers in the entire world of precisely those trucks. We are also the second largest donor of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the entire EU.

I understand that the members have taken a summer break, but had they read the media during the summer, they would have noted that UNRWA's own head says that they can no longer operate in Gaza in a meaningful way and that he is therefore considering closing down the organization. This, if anything, is proof that we have thought correctly. Our priority is to ensure that every supply can reach the children who are starving in Gaza. World Food Programme, to which we have redirected much of our support, receives trucks, albeit not enough. UNRWA has not received a single truck into Gaza in many months. The question is whether one cares about beautiful words and principles or whether one truly cares about the children in Gaza.

When it comes to the distinction between goods from settlements and goods from Israel, it is precisely the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion that is at issue, Jacob Risberg. What we have stood behind is the Belgian initiative, which is about ensuring that the EU truly lives up to the commitments we have according to the court's statement.

Ola Möller said that he had proposals on what we could do unilaterally. I might have missed it, but I did not hear those proposals. The truth, however, is that we have handed over trade policy and sanctions policy to the EU. If one wants a different arrangement, one must work for it, but I have not heard anything about that from the Social Democrats either.

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Ola Möller (S)

Madam Speaker! You will have to excuse me for having my phone with me up in the speaker's chair, but I just want to read to the Minister for Foreign Affairs what UNRWA wrote on its Instagram page three days ago: UNRWA staff work tirelessly in dangerous conditions to help others. Then they have a post about how their clinics take care of injured children – UNRWA personnel on the ground. They work based on the circumstances that exist.

I reject the power techniques regarding our knowledge of what is happening on the ground in Gaza.

Then I just want to point out that there are more statements from Israeli ministers on how they view Hamas. Smotrich, who himself is a settler from the West Bank, has called Hamas an asset. In 2015 he said: Hamas is an asset while the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is not.

I hear no condemnation or accusation from the Foreign Minister regarding the Israeli government's support for Hamas over the years – and enabling. I would have appreciated it given how many times she has condemned us for various things when we, according to her, do not distance ourselves strongly enough. Can she condemn the Israeli government's support for Hamas?

When it comes to things that can be done, I can mention trade agreements and sanctions against leaders. This can happen unilaterally. We want to stop the import of goods – that can happen, as Jacob Risberg pointed out. It is about resuming support to UNRWA and about resuming support to the hostage program. We want to send a fleet that breaks the blockade – with other willing countries. We could do many concrete actions ourselves regarding this.

I say again: I think it is good that the government has nevertheless come out of the wagon. It is positive. What Maria Malmer Stenergard says here is positive, and it shows that our pressure in this chamber has finally made the government understand something in this issue. But it is not enough. If she wants a list of more things, we Social Democrats are always ready to step up to that.

(Applause)

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Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! First, I want to be very clear that I have never condemned any members of Parliament. I think it would be directly inappropriate to do so. On the other hand, the government has been very clear that we want to sanction individual Israeli ministers. It is no small decision for a government to want to sanction other government members. It is also because they counteract a two-state solution through their actions on precisely the settlements. We have also been very clear about that.

Then I wonder to which port this fleet is to be taken, for I am quite certain there is no port in Gaza. But we truly welcome all initiatives that can alleviate the suffering, and the government is doing an incredible amount. We are the second-largest donor of humanitarian aid to Gaza. That may be the most important thing we can do, but we are also pushing for the EU to be clearer in putting pressure on Israel.

I have understood, in this constellation, that the objective is to paint a different picture than the true one of what the government is actually doing. I do not believe at all that Sweden benefits from it, because I believe our voice becomes weaker if the opposition tries to paint a false picture. I do not believe at all that it benefits the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I can only truly regret that. But I can assure the members that the government will continue to work hard to put pressure on Israel's government when it comes to humanitarian access. But it also naturally concerns further sanctions against Hamas, which bears a very heavy responsibility for the suffering that is now occurring in Gaza.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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