Borrell proposes sanctions against two Israeli ministers

EU High Representative Josep Borrell Josep Borrell proposed to impose sanctions against Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrych and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. They called for depriving the residents of the Gaza Strip of humanitarian aid. DW writes about it, UNN reports . 

Details

Borrell's proposal was made on the eve of the summit of foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries.

Smotrych and Ben-Gvir called for blocking the supply of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip. Ben-Gvir hopes to encourage Hamas to surrender in this way. Smotrich hopes that the group's militants will then release Israeli hostages. Israel's Finance Minister called the blockade of the Gaza Strip "moral and justified," even if two million residents of the enclave die of starvation.

The sanctions that Josep Borrell proposes to impose on Ben-Guir and Smotrych include freezing their assets in the European Union and a ban on entry to the EU.

Earlier, it was also reported that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are categorically opposed to a potential truce with Hamas. The signal of readiness for such a truce, according to CNN, was transmitted to Israel in mid-August through Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries by the new head of the radical group, Yahya Sinwar.

Addendum

On August 26, Reuters reported that the talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas ended without result.

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