Ireland is among EU member states who pushed unsuccessfully for more concrete action to be taken at yesterday’s meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.

The meeting discussed a number of options, including the full or partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, but failed to reach a consensus on any of them.

“We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges,” the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, said after the meeting.

She added: “The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to really improve the situation in Gaza.”

However, Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said the failure to suspend the agreement was a “cruel and unlawful betrayal of the European project and vision”.

Ms Callamard said: “This will be remembered as one of the most disgraceful moments in the EU’s history.

“European leaders had the opportunity to take a principled stand against Israel’s crimes but instead gave it a greenlight to continue its genocide in Gaza, its unlawful occupation of the whole occupied Palestinian territory, and its system of apartheid against Palestinians.

“The EU’s own review has clearly found that Israel is violating its human rights obligations under the terms of the Association Agreement.

“Yet, instead of taking measures to stop it and prevent their own complicity, member states chose to maintain a preferential trade deal over respecting their international obligations and saving Palestinian lives.

“This is more than political cowardice. Every time the EU fails to act, the risk of complicity in Israel’s actions grows. This sends an extremely dangerous message to perpetrators of atrocity crimes that they will not only go unpunished but be rewarded.”

She added: “Victims are entitled to far more than empty words.

“Member states must now take matters into their own hands and unilaterally suspend all forms of cooperation with Israel that may contribute to its grave violations of international law, including a comprehensive embargo on the export of arms and surveillance equipment and related technology, and a total ban on trade with and investment in Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”