EU’s top diplomat to propose sanctioning Israeli officials over ‘violent settlers’

BRUSSELS: The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Friday he would propose sanctions against Israeli government “enablers” of Jewish settler violence, following a deadly attack on a village in the occupied West Bank.

“Day after day, in an almost total impunity, Israeli settlers fuel violence in the occupied West Bank, contributing to endanger any chance of peace,” Borrell posted on X.

“The Israeli government must stop these unacceptable actions immediately,” he wrote, vowing to “table a proposal for EU sanctions against violent settlers’ enablers, including some Israeli government’s members”.

Any such sanctions would require unanimous approval from the EU’s 27 member states, who are divided over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The White House has condemned as “unacceptable” Thursday’s attack on Jit, near Nablus, in which the Palestinian Authority said one Palestinian was killed and another wounded. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called it a “pogrom”.

Top UN court says Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office meanwhile said he “takes seriously the riots” and pledged to catch and prosecute the perpetrators.

Violence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated from the Gaza Strip by Israeli territory, has surged since the Gaza war started on October 7.

Since then, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli army or settlers, according to an AFP count based on official Palestinian data.

Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank – considered illegal under international law – has also hit new records.

Netanyahu, head of the conservative Likud party, has governed Israel since December 2022 with the support of far-right formations advocating more Israeli settlements in the West Bank or even outright annexation.