Belgian Foreign minister: EU sanctions against violent Israeli settlers send “clear message”
The European Union is set to impose sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, the High Representative for European Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, announced on Monday. According to Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot, the sanctions “send a clear message: extremism and violence carry consequences”.
On Monday in Brussels, the foreign ministers of the 27 member states gave the green light to sanctions against seven settlers and organisations guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Their identities have not yet been revealed, as the decision has yet to be officially ratified.
This brings an end to the protracted blocking of the dossier by the previous Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán. Orbán lost the parliamentary elections last month and was succeeded by the new prime minister, Peter Magyar. With his appointment, the Hungarian veto appears to have been lifted.
“It was high time we moved from deadlock to delivery. Extremism and violence carry consequences,” said Kallas, welcoming the breakthrough. The sanctions include a freeze on any assets held on European territory and a travel ban for the targeted individuals.
“On behalf of Belgium, I have been pleading for this at the European table for a very long time,” said Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot on X. “These sanctions send a clear message: extremism and violence carry consequences. The illegal settlements and the rise in settler violence against Palestinians are unacceptable and undermine any prospect of a two-state solution.”
Prévot adds that “Hamas must be disarmed and excluded from any role in the future of Palestine”. “The two-state solution is the only path to lasting peace and security, for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he concludes.
In a response, Israel immediately rejected the “arbitrary and political” decision. “Israel has stood, stands, and will continue to stand for the right of Jews to settle in the heart of our homeland,” Foreign minister Gideon Saar responded on X to the decision.
Saar also criticised the fact that the EU had at exactly the same time approved sanctions against twelve leading figures from the extremist Palestinian organisation Hamas. “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 wrote.
The West Bank is a Palestinian territory that has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Violence there has increased significantly since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023. According to OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 44 Palestinians have already been killed in the area this year, including at least thirteen by settlers.
The foreign ministers also exchanged views on measures to restrict European trade with the West Bank settlements, but according to Kallas, there is currently insufficient support for this. Nor is there yet a formal proposal from the Commission on the table.
Foreign minister Maxime Prevot, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa at a meeting in Brussels in April 2026 © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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