EU Agrees To Sanction Israeli Settlers In West Bank Over Violence Against Palestinians

The European Union agreed to sanction Israeli settlers in the West Bank for acts of violence against Palestinians, with the EU saying it would freeze assets and ban travel for sanctioned individuals, and that the sanctions would also include members of Hamas.

UPI quoted Kaja Kallas saying, "Today, we reached a political agreement to sanction Israeli extremists settlers and entities," as the EU said it was examining further actions including tariffs and bans on products that originate from Israeli settlements.

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The UPI account also said Hungary had stood opposed to any sanctions against settlers under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and that Orban had been succeeded by Peter Magyar, who was sworn in on Saturday.

In response to the EU decision, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar wrote, "Israel has stood, stands and will continue to stand for the right of Jews to live in the heart of our homeland."

While the UPI item framed the EU move as consequences for violence and extremism, Anadolu Ajansı reported that Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified operations across the West Bank since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, killing at least 1,155 Palestinians and arresting nearly 22,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.

Anadolu Ajansı reported that Israeli occupiers established a new illegal settlement outpost on Palestinian land east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Monday, while three Palestinians were injured in an occupier attack near Hebron.

The report said the Bedouin rights group Al-Baydar stated that occupiers erected a new outpost in the Jisr al-Khala area near the town of Rummon, east of Ramallah, setting up a tent and mobile homes on land belonging to Palestinian residents.

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Anadolu Ajansı added that the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli forces and occupiers carried out 1,637 attacks across the West Bank in April, including 540 carried out by occupiers, and that occupiers attempted to establish 21 new illegal settlement outposts during the month.

In a separate account, WAFA said Israeli colonists on Monday set up a new colonial outpost in the eastern part of Rammun town, east of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, at the Jisr al-Khalleh locality, erecting a tent and mobile homes.

WAFA described the outpost as part of a practice of expelling indigenous Palestinians and said it would serve as a breeding ground for acts of terrorism against Palestinian inhabitants, while Anadolu Ajansı warned the outpost could become a launch point for “terror attacks” against residents in the area.

The Jerusalem Post reported that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas announced on Monday that the EU would sanction several Israeli settlers who committed acts of violence against Palestinians, and that the agreement also included sanctioning leading Hamas figures.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Kallas saying, "It was high time we moved from deadlock to delivery," and it also quoted Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar decrying the move as "imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens and bodies because of their political views and without any basis."

The same Jerusalem Post account said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the EU decision a "completely distorted moral equivalence" and said, "I call on Justice Minister Yariv Levin to advance" a bill to prevent banks from implementing the sanctions.

It also said Sanctions list targets institutional, financial bodies, with the central target described as Amana, and that the list included Hashomer Yosh, Lehava, and the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar.

In parallel, the Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian Authority said the EU would launch a plan to support Palestinian victims of settler violence in the West Bank, with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announcing that the EU would launch a program to support victims of settler terrorism.