Pressure from EU member states to impose sanctions has increased in recent months amid escalating settler violence.
By AFP, DPA and Reuters
The European Union’s foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Pressure from EU member states to impose sanctions has increased in recent months due to escalating violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property and the Israeli government’s continued expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law.
A senior EU diplomat said the European Commission drafted a paper outlining possible approaches and many options are on the table on Monday, including an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban, the Reuters news agency reported.
“Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of the meeting in Brussels.
“What is happening in the West Bank is actually making it more and more impossible that the two-state solution ever can come into effect,” Kallas said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a diplomat told Reuters: “I think what you will see on Monday is a discussion on the options, and we will get a bit of a picture of where everybody is.”
