The European Union Foreign Affairs Council approved sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations, which it described as being behind violence against Palestinian Arabs, alongside sanctions on leading Hamas figures, in a move that drew strong condemnation from Israel.
The officials or entities targeted by the sanctions have not yet been named.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas announced following the meeting of EU foreign ministers that the bloc “gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians."
“They also agreed on new sanctions on leading Hamas figures," Kallas stated.
“It was high time we moved from deadlock to delivery. Extremism and violence carry consequences," she added.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot welcomed the decision, stating that the European Union was “sanctioning today the main Israeli organizations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank, as well as their leaders."
“These most serious and intolerable acts must cease without delay," Barrot stated.
He added that the EU was also sanctioning “the main leaders of Hamas, responsible for the worst antisemitic massacre in our history since the Shoah, during which 51 French people lost their lives."
Barrot said Hamas “must imperatively be disarmed and excluded from any participation in the future of Palestine."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply criticized the decision.
“Israel firmly rejects the decision to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations," Sa’ar stated.
“The European Union has chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis."
Sa’ar also condemned what he described as a comparison between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists.
“Equally outrageous is the unacceptable comparison the European Union has chosen to make between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a completely distorted moral equivalence," he stated.
He added that “Israel has stood, stands, and will continue to stand for the right of Jews to settle in the heart of our homeland."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the move and noted that, "Oddly enough, to this very moment, the European Union has still not officially and transparently published the list of Israeli individuals and organizations it decided to sanction. Information circulating through diplomatic channels indicates that the sanctions list (the contents of which have also not been disclosed) includes individuals and organizations that have no connection whatsoever to violence or criminal activity."
According to the Foreign Ministry, "The European Union’s rhetoric is about sanctions against 'settler violence.' The practice, apparently, is sanctions against political views that don’t conform to the EU’s own views."
Ahead of the vote, Kallas had expressed confidence that the sanctions package would advance after a change in Hungary’s government removed a key obstacle that had previously delayed the measure.
The sanctions proposal had remained stalled for months due to opposition from former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Following the swearing-in of new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, however, EU officials indicated that Budapest would no longer block the move.
Speaking ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Kallas said she expected a “political agreement on the sanctions of violent settlers."