EU Sanctions Israeli Settlers and Hamas Leaders After Brussels Foreign Ministers Meeting

The European Union agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers and leading Hamas figures after a meeting of member states’ foreign ministers in Brussels.

“The European Union has agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers and leading Hamas figures”

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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it was "high time we move from deadlock to delivery," adding that "Extremisms and violence carry consequences."

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The measures targeting Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians in the West Bank were long-awaited, having been blocked by the self-styled illiberal government of Hungary’s former premier Viktor Orban.

The agreement also included sanctions on Hamas leaders, whose armed wing was described as a major participant in the attack on southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,200 people and saw 240 taken captive.

Israel quickly condemned the measures, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar saying the EU chose "in an arbitrary and political manner" to impose sanctions "without any basis."

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the EU decision was "arbitrary and political" and that Israel would continue to "stand for the right of Jews to settle in the heart of our homeland."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the turnaround, saying that the EU was "sanctioning the main Israeli organisations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonisation of the West Bank".

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A senior Hamas official, Basem Naim, accused the EU of political hypocrisy and racism, telling Reuters: "It equates a fascist executioner who boasts of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing" with "the victim who defends itself".

The BBC reported that the EU foreign ministers approved new sanctions on Monday on Israeli settlers over rising violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with EU officials saying seven settlers or settler organisations would be sanctioned.

The BBC also said there was still technical and legal work before the sanctions are officially imposed, even as Israel’s foreign minister rejected the decision as "arbitrary and political."

The EU’s sanctions decision came as member states still lacked consensus on further steps such as curbing trade ties, even as foreign ministers discussed calls to ban products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Italy’s Antonio Tajani said that the European Commission would make a proposal on the move, and then the bloc would see if it had enough backing.

The Guardian reported that there was still no consensus among the 27 member states on more hard-hitting trade sanctions, while France and Sweden called for tariffs on imported products from illegal settlements.

The Guardian also said the full list of names has not been published following Monday’s agreement in principle, and that it is understood not to include Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

In Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported that the most significant change in the sanctions list is its focus on institutional and financial bodies, with the central target described as Amana and asset freezes and transaction bans expected to complicate its activity with financial institutions.