On Monday, European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions against Israeli settlers for attacking Palestinians in the West Bank and to tighten sanctions against members of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. This was announced by EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell after a meeting of ministers in Brussels, UNN reports .
We discussed sanctions, sanctions against Hamas, and we also agreed on sanctions against extremist settlers. This was not possible at the last Foreign Affairs Council, this time it was possible, a solid compromise was reached at the working level, and I hope that this will be continued to full adoption soon. But the political agreement is already there.
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It should be noted that this is the first time that 27 EU member states have agreed to impose sanctions against violent actions by Israeli settlers, following the lead of the United States and Britain.
While much international attention has been focused on Hamas' cross-border attack from Gaza and Israel's subsequent war there, European officials have also expressed growing concern about the rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
We also had an orientation discussion on the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This association agreement is clearly based on the shared values between us, respect for human rights, the rule of law and democracy. We have to continue to work with Israel to further discuss the situation in Gaza, the call to the Association Council was certainly difficult and did not have strong support because first you have to agree on an agenda and you have to agree on a common position of the member states, which was very difficult to get.
Earlier, the EU introduced a sanctions regime specifically against Hamas. According to diplomats, the EU plans to impose additional sanctions on Hamas before imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers.
This consistency was important for EU members close to Israel, such as Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, who wanted to make it clear that they did not equate the two groups.
Hungary has been the most resistant to sanctions against violent settlers, but has recently changed its position, diplomats say.
Borrell said that the countries that had previously blocked the proposal have now decided to abstain, and the list of those who will face sanctions now needs to be approved. Those on the list will face a travel ban and asset freeze.