BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
The European Union unanimously agreed Monday to impose new sanctions targeting leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as well as prominent figures and organizations linked to the Israeli settler movement in the occupied West Bank, marking one of the bloc’s most politically sensitive foreign policy decisions since the start of the war in Gaza.
The agreement came during a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, where growing frustration over the humanitarian devastation caused by the Israel-Hamas conflict pushed European governments toward coordinated punitive measures aimed at both Palestinian militants and Israeli extremist groups accused of fueling violence.
While ministers reached political agreement on the sanctions framework, EU officials still must finalize the specific list of individuals and organizations that will face travel bans and asset freezes. A committee of member states is expected to prepare the final draft in the coming weeks.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the move as a long-overdue response to escalating extremism and violence across the region.
“It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery,” Kallas said in a social media statement after the meeting.
The sanctions package reflects mounting pressure inside Europe for a tougher stance toward both Hamas and hardline Israeli settler organizations accused of contributing to instability, violence and violations of international law during the ongoing conflict.
According to reports in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the proposed sanctions list includes several influential settler organizations, among them Amana, Nachala, Hashomer Yosh and Regavim.
The report also identified several prominent settler leaders expected to face sanctions, including Daniella Weiss, Meir Deutsch and Avichai Suissa.
Weiss, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Israeli settler movement and often referred to as its ideological matriarch, dismissed the European measures as politically motivated and insignificant.
She said she had not received any official notification regarding sanctions and described the decision as “ridiculous,” insisting it would not deter settlement activity in the occupied territories.
Regavim also reacted defiantly, saying in a statement that the organization viewed potential EU sanctions as “a badge of honor” and would continue efforts to strengthen Israeli sovereignty throughout what it described as the Jewish homeland.
The Israeli government, dominated by right-wing and nationalist parties closely aligned with the settler movement, strongly condemned the European decision.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions “arbitrary and political” and pledged that Israel would continue defending what he described as the right of Jews to settle throughout the biblical land of Israel.
Senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government have long championed settlement expansion in the West Bank. These include Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees many settlement-related policies, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who controls the national police force.
European officials said the sanctions are intended to pressure both Hamas leaders and radical settler groups amid growing alarm over the widening regional crisis.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said European governments could no longer tolerate ongoing violence carried out by either side.
“These most serious and intolerable acts must cease without delay,” Barrot said.
He added that the measures against Hamas leaders were aimed at those responsible for the October 7 attacks, which he described as the deadliest antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust and which killed dozens of French citizens.
At the same time, European governments are becoming increasingly alarmed by worsening violence in the occupied West Bank, where attacks involving settlers, armed groups and Israeli security operations have intensified sharply since the Gaza war began.
Palestinian communities and international human rights organizations have documented rising incidents of shootings, arson attacks, vandalism and forced displacement near settlements and unauthorized outposts.
According to figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 40 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including a record number allegedly killed by settlers.
Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said the European Union could not remain passive in the face of escalating violence and what she described as repeated violations of international law.
“The EU cannot be bystanders in the face of escalating violence and persistent breaches of international law,” she wrote on social media.
Israeli human rights organization Peace Now welcomed the EU’s decision, describing it as a warning to Israeli society about the consequences of decades of settlement expansion and military control over Palestinian territories.
The sanctions vote also reflected a major political shift inside Europe following the defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in last month’s elections. Orbán had consistently blocked earlier EU attempts to sanction Israeli settlers, using Hungary’s veto power to shield Israel from tougher European measures.
His successor, Péter Magyar, has adopted a less confrontational stance toward EU foreign policy consensus, helping clear the way for Monday’s unanimous agreement.
Analysts said Orbán’s departure demonstrated how heavily a single member state had previously influenced EU policy toward Israel.
Martin Konečný of the Brussels-based European Middle East Project said the agreement effectively confirmed that Hungary alone had prevented earlier sanctions from moving forward.
Despite Monday’s breakthrough, European governments remain divided over broader economic measures targeting Israel itself.
Several countries, including Spain, Ireland and Netherlands, have pushed for tougher action, including restrictions on products originating from Israeli settlements and a possible suspension of key trade agreements with Israel.
However, EU ministers failed to reach agreement on those measures during Monday’s meeting.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel argued earlier that Europe could no longer “turn a blind eye” to developments in the occupied territories.
Still, critics of the final agreement said the sanctions package falls short of addressing broader structural issues tied to Israel’s occupation policies and the ongoing war.
Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations said targeting a limited number of settlers and organizations ignores wider political realities driving the conflict.
“The EU’s narrowed the scope of action now to individuals and to a few entities, and in doing that it’s ignoring the far more systemic issues at play,” Lovatt said.
Human Rights Watch also described the sanctions as a positive but insufficient step.
Claudio Francavilla, the group’s associate EU director, said much stronger measures would still be required if Europe wants to fully uphold international law obligations.
Ahead of the Brussels meeting, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy needed more time to study a joint French-Swedish proposal that would effectively cut West Bank settlements off from EU markets.
Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen suggested that individual European countries could move independently to ban settlement goods if collective EU action stalls.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno urged European governments to stop delaying tougher decisions and move toward formal votes on broader sanctions measures.
“We have been talking about measures for too long,” Albares said in Brussels. “Let’s move on to a vote and stop saying that there is no qualified majority for it. Let’s see how many of us are in agreement and who is not.”
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