Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


EU to Propose Sanctions on Violent Israeli Settlers in West Bank

by Reuters

   BRUSSELS --

   European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday he
   would propose sanctions against Jewish settlers responsible for
   violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

   Borrell was speaking after EU foreign ministers debated possible next
   steps in their response to the Middle East crisis triggered by
   Palestinian militant group Hamas's deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel from
   Gaza.

   While much international attention has focused on the cross-border
   assault and Israel's subsequent war against Hamas in Gaza, European
   officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence
   against Palestinians in the West Bank.

   Borrell said he would propose a special sanctions program to target
   Hamas - backed by the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy -
   but EU also had to act against violent Israeli settlers.

   "The time has come to move from words to actions... and to start
   adopting the measures we can take with regard to the acts of violence
   against the Palestinian population in the West Bank," Borrell told
   reporters after the meeting in Brussels.

   U.N. figures show daily settler attacks have more than doubled since
   the Hamas attack and Israel's assault on Gaza.

   Borrell said the ministers had not yet shown the unanimous support that
   would be necessary to pass such a measure, but he stressed he had not
   yet submitted a formal proposal.

   EU officials would draw up a list of people known for attacks on
   Palestinians in the West Bank and he would then propose they be
   sanctioned for human rights abuses, he said.

   Borell did not say what the sanctions would entail but EU officials
   have said they would involve bans on travel to the EU.

   Diplomats have predicted it will be hard to get unanimity for EU-wide
   bans, as countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary are
   staunch allies of Israel.

   But some suggested a decision last week by the United States, Israel's
   biggest backer, to start imposing visa bans on people involved in
   violence in the West Bank could encourage EU countries to take similar
   steps.

   France said last month the EU should consider such measures and Foreign
   Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters on Monday that Paris was
   considering domestic sanctions against such individuals. Belgium has
   said it will ban them from its territory.

   To be truly effective, however, any EU ban would have to be enforced
   across the bloc's border-free Schengen zone.

   The settlements are one of the most contentious issues of the
   decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict. They are built on land
   captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War but which the
   Palestinians seek for a future independent state. They are deemed
   illegal by most countries but have consistently expanded over the
   years.

   On the issue of a special sanctions program to target Hamas, Borrell
   said no minister had opposed the idea and he would bring forward a
   proposal for approval.

   The EU already classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, meaning
   any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen.

   In recent days, it has added Mohammed Deif, commander general of the
   military wing of Hamas, and his deputy, Marwan Issa, to its list of
   terrorists under sanction.

   But the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy said in a letter
   to Borrell that a special Hamas sanctions program would send a strong
   political message and help the EU to target "Hamas members, affiliated
   groups and supporters of its destabilizing activities."