EU increases pressure on Israel: sanctions against radical settlers

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Foreign Minister Baerbock

Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP

When it comes to Israel, Josep Borrell likes to use clear, sometimes provocative words - and he did so before a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

"Before the war, Gaza was the largest open-air prison," said the EU foreign policy chief.

"Today it is the largest open-air cemetery - a cemetery for tens of thousands of people and a cemetery for many of the most important principles of international humanitarian law." Immediately before, Borrell had accused Israel's government of deliberately causing famine among the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: "The Starvation is being used as a weapon of war.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz rejected the allegations.

“Israel allows extensive humanitarian aid for those willing to help to Gaza by land, air and sea,” wrote Katz on the online service X.

But apparently hardly anyone believes that anymore, not even in Berlin.

Millions of people, including many children, have not had sufficient food for weeks, said Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock before the start of the ministerial meeting.

Humanitarian aid for Gaza “must now finally be secured by the Israeli government,” continued Baerbock.

»The suffering is simply unbearable.«

International experts assess the situation similarly.

1.1 million people, almost half of the population in the Gaza Strip, are at risk of catastrophic food shortages, said a report published on Monday by the United Nations-sponsored IPC platform.

Famine is likely in the northern Gaza Strip within the next two months.

Most of the criteria for defining famine are already more than met in parts of the Gaza Strip.

A famine can still be avoided, but for this to happen Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas would have to stop their fighting immediately and aid organizations would have to be given access.

However, the situation could become even worse if Israel launches an offensive against Rafah, the last relatively safe city in the Gaza Strip, as announced.

Baerbock warned the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against such a step.

“Over a million people cannot disappear into thin air,” said Baerbock.

"That's why there can be no attack on Rafah in this full dimension."

Of course, the Foreign Minister also emphasized the suffering of the Israelis who have been held captive by the terrorist organization since the Hamas massacre on October 7th - and that the EU is now finally introducing sanctions against Hamas, including because of sexual violence against women in Israel.

But she paid at least as much attention to the sanctions against radical Israeli settlers that were also decided on Monday.

The war could only come to an end with the two-state solution.

Settlement construction and in particular “the violence of radical settlers” stand in the way of this.

“We will also introduce a sanctions regime for this,” said Baerbock.

After the meeting, Borrell announced a political agreement by all 27 EU states on sanctions against settlers who it was clear were responsible for violence against Palestinians.

This means that the EU as a whole is now also targeting radical settlers, after France and the USA have already implemented similar sanctions on their own.

As is often the case in the EU, it took longer because Hungary blocked the punitive measures for months.

According to SPIEGEL information, only five people and one association will initially be subject to EU sanctions.

How effective these will be remains to be seen.

Entry bans into the EU are unlikely to impress settlers in the West Bank.

According to Borrell, assets of the sanctioned parties within the EU should also be frozen.

Here too, it was initially unclear what values ​​were at stake.

In Berlin, the sanctions are seen primarily as a means of political pressure - since they are particularly aimed at people who have committed violence but are not or are not yet being prosecuted by the Israeli justice system.

In addition, the punitive measures should send a signal: a breach of international law should have consequences, including for Israel.