Kaja Kallas Says EU Poised To Approve Sanctions On Violent Israeli Settlers In West Bank

The European Union was poised to approve sanctions against so-called violent Israeli settlers after Hungary’s new government signaled it would no longer block the measure, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday.

Kallas said, “I expect political agreement on the sanctions of violent settlers,” and added, “I really do hope that we have a political agreement regarding the violent settler sanctions that has been on the table for quite some time.”

Al-Jazeera Net

POLITICO.eu linked the potential breakthrough to a change in Hungary’s leadership, saying Péter Magyar replaced Viktor Orbán as Hungary’s prime minister last Saturday and signaled he would not stand in the way of broadly supported sanction packages.

The measures were described as a response to rising violence and settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with EU officials expecting seven settlers or settler-linked organizations to be blacklisted.

Kallas also acknowledged that broader measures against Israel still lacked support inside the bloc, saying that when tested with ambassadors on Friday, “it seems that we do not have the necessary majority to pass these measures.”

Türkiye Today reported that the EU was expected Monday to approve new sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians, saying the change of government in Hungary removed a key obstacle that had blocked the measures for months.

Kallas told reporters ahead of the meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers, “I expect political agreement on the sanctions on violent settlers; hopefully, we will get there,” as Viktor Orban’s ouster by rival Peter Magyar appeared to have paved the way for the veto to be lifted.

Al-Jazeera Net

The report said EU officials expected seven settlers or settler organizations to be blacklisted and that the bloc was also expected to impose sanctions on representatives of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

TRT World similarly said the EU was expected on Monday to agree long-stalled sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers, with Kallas adding, “I expect political agreement on the sanctions on violent settlers, hopefully we will get there,” ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting.

Both accounts described the occupied West Bank as experiencing near-daily violence since the Gaza war began in October 2023, involving both Israeli troops and settlers, and said there had been a surge in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the Iran war on February 28.

Al-Jazeera Net said Kallas expected EU member states to reach a political agreement on imposing sanctions on violent settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Kallas was quoted saying, “I expect a political agreement on sanctions against violent settlers, and I hope we will reach that,” while the outlet said it remained “not entirely clear whether the majority required to approve the proposals will be obtained.”

The same Al-Jazeera Net account tied the EU’s move to escalation in the West Bank alongside the war in Gaza, saying the Israeli army and settlers escalated attacks including killings, arrests, demolitions, and settlement expansion.

It cited official Palestinian figures that “the death of at least 1,155 Palestinians” and injuries to about “11,750” had occurred, and also said the arrest of around “22,000” people had been recorded.

Al-Jazeera Net further stated that from October 2023 through March 30, settler attacks displaced no fewer than 79 Palestinian communities, comprising 814 families and more than 4,700 people, and said the number of settlements in the West Bank was 192 with 350 settler outposts inhabited by 780,000 settlers.