EU Agrees New Sanctions Against Israeli Extremist Settlers in the West Bank
As many as 27 EU Foreign Ministers officially approved new sanctions against Israeli settlers on Monday local time. This step was taken in response to the increasing wave of violence against Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank territory.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas stressed that this firm action is long overdue. “It’s time we move from deadlock to real action… extremism and violence have consequences,” Kallas asserted.
This decision was reached following a change in government in Hungary. Previously, the sanctions plan had been stalled for months by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known as a close ally of Israel.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated that the EU is now imposing sanctions on major Israeli organisations guilty of supporting “extremist colonisation and violence in the West Bank”.
Israeli media reports indicate that seven individuals and organisations are on the blacklist, including…
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar strongly rejected the decision, calling it an “arbitrary and political” step. He affirmed that Israel will continue to defend the rights of Jewish citizens to settle in what he described as their homeland.
“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 said.
He also expressed his objection to equating Israeli citizens with Hamas members. “Equally outrageous is the unacceptable comparison chosen by the European Union between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a truly perverse moral equivalence,” he added.
According to UN data, there has been a surge in settler attacks since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023. In 2025 alone, more than 1,800 settler attacks have been recorded, resulting in casualties or property damage in around 280 communities in the West Bank.
Recent reports include allegations of settlers forcing Palestinians to re-dig a grave to incidents of shootings in Tayasir village. Currently, around 700,000 Jewish residents live in about 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories that are illegal under international law and claimed by Palestinians as the future of their state.