FOCUS — Kallas: EU mulls new sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank

BRUSSELS, September 15 — EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday the bloc is discussing additional sanctions on Israeli settlers, amid rising illegal settlement expansion, forced displacements, and record levels of violence by illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the escalating situation in the Middle East, Kallas said the expansion of settlement outposts and new illegal outposts in the West Bank continues to grow, alongside forced displacements and settler violence.

“In addition to three sanctions packages against extremist settlers, the European Council is now discussing other possible sanctions. Accountability is a prerequisite for curbing violent settlers,” she said.

She said the EU, together with international partners, including the United Kingdom, must continue to demand a halt to settlement expansion, including the planned E1 project.

The E1 project, located in East Jerusalem, “seriously threatens the viability of the two-state solution,” Kallas said.

Referring to the Gaza Strip, Kallas said the humanitarian situation is deteriorating despite the ceasefire, describing it as a “ceasefire in name only.”

“People are still being killed and injured,” she said, warning that overcrowded displacement areas face the risk of flooding and disease as winter approaches.

Kallas also referred to the upcoming elections in Israel and Palestinian legislative elections as “important turning points,” saying the EU is ready to help, particularly with the Palestinian elections.