Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor) has condemned the Israeli occupation’s widespread destruction of European-funded projects and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. They described it as part of a ‘systematic campaign’ amid the ongoing genocide.

Hundreds of European-funded projects and key infrastructure decimated

Ramy Abdu is Founder and Chairman of Euro-Med Monitor, and Assistant Professor of Law and Finance. He told the Canary:

Over the past two years, Israel has destroyed nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s buildings and 80 percent of its infrastructure and public services. Given that most of Gaza’s facilities are financed through international donors — including significant European contributions — this means that the destruction has wiped out hundreds of projects and structures funded by Europe.

In Gaza, key infrastructure, supported by the European Commission and EU member states, has been repeatedly targeted. These funds have flowed through Palestinian civil society organizations and UN agencies, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Initial investigations by Euro-Med Monitor reveal the destruction of critical facilities including water desalination plants, hospitals, clinics, schools, and housing units- many part of EU-backed reconstruction efforts.

Intentional targeting with the aim of making Palestinian life intolerable

This systematic targeting by the occupation not only destroys physical assets but also vital systems designed to guarantee basic rights such as access to water, health, education, and adequate housing, as Abdu explains:

Attacking them constitutes a grave breach of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law. Disabling desalination plants and water and sewage networks directly undermines people’s right to safe water and public health. Destroying schools deprives children of their right to education, while demolishing homes forces thousands of families into displacement within the Strip.

Among the worst hits was a European Union-funded water desalination facility in Khan Younis, operated under UNICEF’s water programmes, which was completely destroyed despite being clearly marked as civilian infrastructure. A similar facility in Deir al-Balah, built through the EU’s Water Programme for the Palestinian Territories and implemented by UNICEF, was struck during military operations, leaving thousands without access to safe drinking water. International aid agencies Oxfam and UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have documented the destruction of essential water pumps and storage tanks, showing how even EU-funded assets are vulnerable despite efforts to share precise, deconflicted coordinates.

EU projects across Gaza destroyed by ‘Israel’

The assault on education has been equally devastating. Most of Gaza’s schools, including many run by UNRWA and funded by the EU, have been damaged or destroyed. A school in Rafah financed through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) was flattened while sheltering civilians. Other facilities providing psychosocial and child protection services, such as those supported by the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children, have also been destroyed, leaving tens of thousands of children without places to learn or feel safe. This destruction reverses years of EU investment in education and robs a generation of Palestinians of opportunity.

Water and sanitation infrastructure, critical to everyday life, has suffered extensive damage. The EU has long supported Gaza’s sector through central desalination programmes, short-term low-volume water units, and distribution networks. But coastal wells, transmission lines, reservoirs, and pumping stations-many funded by the EU, have been targeted. Destruction of EU-backed water units and ruptured transmission pipelines, in Beit Lahia, has led to severe shortages of drinkable water and hampered hygiene efforts, affecting vulnerable populations.

Healthcare infrastructure tells a similar story of destruction and loss. Evidence from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNRWA highlights repeated attacks on hospitals and clinics. The Indonesian Hospital and Al-Shifa Medical Complex, both supported by international donors, have been hit multiple times, causing mass casualties and forcing total closures. MSF’s Gaza City clinic and warehouse were demolished, even though the group had repeatedly shared GPS coordinates with Israeli forces. A primary healthcare centre in northern Gaza funded by Germany’s GIZ was flattened, which led the German government to suspend bilateral cooperation in protest.

‘International silence and impunity, emboldens Israel to continue’

The WHO has recorded over 600 attacks on health facilities and ambulances in Gaza between October 2023 and June 2024, the highest level of healthcare targeting in any global conflict of that period. As a result, Gaza’s healthcare system has been paralyzed, with hospitals lacking power, medical staff, and supplies, effectively collapsing civilian medical care.

Abdu says:

This policy of destroying European-funded projects is not new—it has repeatedly happened in Gaza and continues in the West Bank. This persistent pattern, coupled with international silence and impunity, emboldens Israel to continue.

Despite repeated evidence and official European assessments confirming these systematic violations-many amounting to genocide, the EU’s response has been limited only to words, with no action taken. Europe, as Israel’s main trading partner and largest arms market, maintains political and economic ties that enable the ongoing destruction and violence.

Europe even stays silent when ‘Israel’ destroys European-funded projects and infrastructure

The reluctance of European institutions to activate legal mechanisms, such as suspending trade advantages, freezing cooperation frameworks, or resolving disputes, contravenes their commitments under Article 2 of the EU–Israel Association Agreement, which conditions relations on respect for human rights. Euro-Med Monitor warns that European silence and inaction send a troubling message- that destruction of EU-funded assets and terrorising civilians have no consequences. This failure undermines the EU’s credibility and weakens its standing in upholding international law and the rules-based global order.

An official EU investigation is essential, with a detailed public report on losses and accountability. Abdu says:

Europe must act to compel Israel to pay comprehensive financial compensation for all European-funded projects damaged or destroyed, including replacement and operational costs.

In this context, compensation is more than just monetary reparation. It represents acknowledgment of responsibility for internationally unlawful acts and a vital step in restoring Palestinians’ access to essential services repeatedly shattered by violence. Euro-Med Monitor is also demanding prosecution of civilian and military officials responsible for this intentional destruction, and support for international legal proceedings.

According to Abdu, the EU must take urgent enforceable action, including suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and backing investigations to ensure accountability for Israel’s crimes against protected civilian property and obstruction of humanitarian aid.

Continued investment in Gaza essential for Palestinians

Euro-Med Monitor stresses the importance of continuing to invest in Palestinian development, and providing urgent financial support for recovery and rebuilding efforts in key sectors such as water, health, education, and housing. It warns against cutting relief and service programmes which, it says, would punish innocent victims twice. Instead, the focus should be on pressuring the Israeli regime through economic, political, and legal measures.

Until Europe acts, its silence will remain part of Gaza’s destruction.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.