EU agrees on sanctions targeting Israeli occupiers in West Bank

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday on a new round of sanctions targeting Israeli occupiers and organizations accused of supporting illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

"It's done! The European Union is sanctioning today the main Israeli organizations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank, as well as their leaders. These most serious and intolerable acts must cease without delay," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on US social media platform X.

Barrot said the EU also adopted sanctions against "the main leaders of Hamas."

"The hope that France revived last year in New York, that of two recognized and respected States living side by side in peace and security, we will let no one undermine it," he added.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also confirmed the decision, saying EU foreign ministers "gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians."

"It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery. Extremisms and violence carry consequences," Kallas said on X.

The decision came as EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.

Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on X that the decision followed months of "deadlock" within the bloc, noting that changes in Hungary's position helped unlock consensus.

He said Belgium had long pushed for the measures, adding that they send "a clear message that extremism and violence carry consequences."

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed the agreement, saying: "The situation in Gaza is dramatic, and I regret that there is no support in the (EU) for freezing the association agreement with Israel. The two-state solution is becoming increasingly difficult," she wrote on X.

Ireland's Foreign Minister welcomed the decision, saying the EU must not remain passive in the face of escalating violence and alleged breaches of international law.

"Extremist violence and persistent breaches of international law cannot go unanswered ... We must also continue discussions on further measures to protect the viability of the two-State solution," she said on X.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also welcomed the move, while stressing that "the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is unacceptable."

"The Association Agreement must be suspended while it continues like this. Let us not allow the violation of international law and the obstruction of the two-state solution," he wrote on X.

The European Parliament’s Left Group criticized the scope of the sanctions, calling them insufficient.

"Although welcome, the sanctions are a pitiful fraction of what is required to rein in Israel's constant breaches of international law - suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement now," the group said on X.

Lynn Boylan, chair of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Palestine, said Israel will act with impunity "because it believes the EU will do nothing."

The occupied West Bank has seen escalating violence since the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, including killings, arrests, home demolitions and settlement expansion, according to Palestinian officials.

At least 1,155 Palestinians have since been killed, about 11,750 injured, and nearly 22,000 arrested in the occupied West Bank, according to official Palestinian figures.