Brussels civil servants are locked in an escalating standoff with the European Commission over their right to protest the EU’s stance on Israel.

A growing number of staff argue that the bloc’s failure to exert pressure on Israel while it’s accused of committing war crimes in Gaza makes it impossible for them to perform their duties without breaching EU and international law.

EU institutions have imposed “complicity” on employees and violated their “moral and legal obligations, suppressed conscientious resistance and delayed meaningful action,” one official, asking to be identified only as Ramona for fear of professional repercussions, told POLITICO.

The bloc’s own diplomatic arm has accused Israel of violating its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel trade agreement and has floated cutting the country off from both favorable trade relations and its Horizon research-sharing program. However, European leaders have yet to agree on either measure, drawing scorn from critics who complain that the Brussels is failing to take its own treaties seriously.

The Commission maintains that EU foreign policy is a matter for national governments, and has warned its employees to stay out of politics. Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà cast the internal outcry over the EU’s failure to cut ties with Israel as inherently political and noted that staff must “comply with their duties and obligations … in an impartial, loyal and neutral manner.”

She said EU civil servants can use internal tools such as letters, dialogue with staff unions and managers to protest but that “the workplace, the premises of the administration and work tools put at the disposal of staff by the administration are not the place for activism, neither for or against certain political causes.” Internal letters sent by staff to their superiors are not to be shared publicly, she also said, adding that the Commission would actively assess any perceived breaches of civil servants’ obligations.

However, protesters questioned the value of the internal tools cited by Podestá, which in many cases have already been the first port of call for protesters.

Since the end of July, some 1,500 officials in the 32,000-strong institution — ranging from low-level analysts to senior cabinet members — have signed an open letter highlighting the deteriorating conditions in the besieged enclave, predicting an “exponential” rise in starvation-related deaths if the EU doesn’t pressure Israel to allow in more aid and food.

Some civil servants are now also considering industrial action in a bid to pressure the EU institutions to take a bolder stance in the face of opposition from European governments.

However, the unions remain divided on Israel and hesitant to support them, and protesters are unsure of the possible legal and professional consequences, according to four people familiar with the matter. Some protesters, the people said, believe striking might pass legal muster if they argue they are merely trying to push the EU to comply with its fundamental international human rights obligations that civil servants are bound to uphold.

An internal letter seen by POLITICO sent last month to EU leadership by internal pro-Palestinian solidarity group EU Staff for Peace said some forms of protest have been subject to “intimidation” tactics, including alleged manhandling by security officials, unfair termination of contracts and a crackdown on an internal petition.

In one incident, the collective says seven officials wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “Say no to genocide” were escorted roughly from the European Council’s Europa canteen by security, with one getting their arm twisted and another forced to delete videos of the protest from their phone and phone’s trash folder.

The letter also alludes to unnamed protesters’ contracts not being renewed and others being compelled to resign; an unexplained ban on an internal pro-Palestinian survey that collected 1,514 colleagues in less than 48 hours; and the presence on June 25 in the Commission headquarters’ staff entrance of Israeli colonel Moshe Tetro, a senior defense official accused of war crimes by the Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based non-profit.

Podestá denied that protesters were intimidated or compelled to resign for reasons other than “service needs and individual performance.” A European Council spokesperson acknowledged the removal of staff from its Europa canteen and echoed the Commission in rejecting the protest as “political.”

Staff challenged the Commission’s characterization of their activism as political, arguing that they only wanted the EU to be compliant with its own treaties and international law, both of which, they say, Israel has openly flouted. Israel has consistently maintained it is adhering to international law in its war in Gaza.

“This is an institution born to spread peace in Europe and globally — and the global dimension is very important to the EU, and is enshrined in all our directives and policies,” another civil servant told POLITICO. The issue is “the EU not following its founding principles.”