EU Imposes New Sanctions on Israeli Settlers Over West Bank Violence

Foreign ministers from the European Union have agreed to introduce a new round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers and organisations accused of supporting illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

The decision was announced following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday, amid growing international concern over escalating violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the sanctions would target key Israeli organisations and individuals allegedly linked to extremist settler activities and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“The European Union today imposed sanctions on major Israeli organisations responsible for supporting violent and extremist settlement expansion in the West Bank, including their leaders,” Barrot wrote on social media platform X.

He added that the EU had also approved sanctions against what he described as “leading Hamas figures”.

Barrot stressed that France remains committed to reviving efforts toward a peaceful two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

“We will not allow the renewed hope for two states living side by side in peace and security to be undermined,” he said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed that EU ministers had officially approved the sanctions package in response to settler violence against Palestinians.

“It is time to move from deadlock to action. Extremism and violence must have consequences,” Kallas said in a statement.

Violence across the occupied West Bank has intensified significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. Palestinian officials report a sharp rise in killings, arrests, home demolitions and settlement expansion during the period.

According to official Palestinian figures, at least 1,155 Palestinians have been killed, around 11,750 injured and nearly 22,000 detained in the occupied West Bank since October 2023.