EU foreign ministers are closing in on sanctions against a dozen Israeli settlers, amid Western efforts to also stop an Israeli-made famine in Gaza.
“It seems today we will agree sanctions on both Hamas and on violent settlers, who are harassing civilians in the West Bank,” said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in Brussels on Monday (18 March).
Israel has killed over 31,000 people in Gaza after Palestinian group Hamas attacked it on 7 October, killing some 1,200 Israelis and taking around 250 people hostage.
Israel has also announced thousands of new settlements in the West Bank since 7 October and is stopping food trucks from getting in to Gaza.
“Gaza has become an open-air graveyard … for many of the most important principles of humanitarian law,” Borrell said on Monday.
Belgium, France, and the Netherlands had proposed to impose an EU visa-ban and asset-freeze on 12 extremist settlers in a bid to chill Israeli aggression.
Hungary had opposed the move, saying it would fuel antisemitism.
But Budapest quietly lifted its objection on Friday, diplomatic sources told EUobserver, paving the way for Monday’s accord.
“Unanimous consent to move forward,” an EU diplomat said, while warning that Hungary was so unpredictable, it could still reinstate its veto before the new sanctions become law.
Hungary declined to comment.
The EU has long-designated Hamas as a terrorist entity, but sanctions on Israeli settlers would be an unprecedented move.
EU ministers also voiced strident criticism of Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza on Monday.
“What is need is total access by land [for food aid] — there’s hundreds of trucks waiting at the Egyptian frontier,” said Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib
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Borrell added: “We cannot sit and watch while people are starving. On the Egyptian side, there are hundreds of food trucks accumulated, while on the other side people are dying of hunger”.
The EU, US, and Arab countries have launched sea deliveries from Cyprus to Gaza instead.
“This is a project for the long run and needs to be financed properly,” said Cypriot foreign minister Constantinos Kombos on Monday, referring to a donors’ meeting due Thursday.
But sea deliveries were also going slowly due to “very detailed security screening [by Israeli authorities] so that the cargo is sterile [contains no weapons]. Now, we’re delivering food, the next step would be medicine,” he said.
Ireland and Spain have also proposed the EU reviews its “association” pact with Israel, which includes trade perks and high-level meetings.
But several ministers spoke against the idea on Monday.
“Belgium is in favour of dialogue [with Israel],” said Lahbib.
Latvian foreign minister Krišjanis Kariņš said: “I don’t think this is a time to move a way from dialogue … it’s a time to add more topics”.
Putting pressure on Israel was “easier within the association agreement than without it,” Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen also said.
