The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has proposed that sanctions be imposed on some Israeli government ministers for inciting hatred and “war crimes” during Israel’s war in Gaza.
The proposal, which is supported by Ireland, was brought to a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on Thursday for discussion, but no decision was expected to be reached.
Mr Borrell said the proposed sanctions would target Israeli government ministers who had been behind “unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians” and had suggested actions that went against international law.
The Spanish politician said the sanctions would be in response to commentary that he felt amounted to incitement to “commit war crimes” in Israel’s war in Gaza, which it launched in response to the October 7th Hamas attacks.
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It is unlikely the 27 member states will agree to the proposal, given some countries’ ardent support for Israel. Mr Borrell did not name individual ministers who would be targeted by the proposed sanctions if they were approved.
It is understood the proposals presented to ministers suggested sanctions be placed on Israeli minister of national security Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli minister for finance.
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Borrell said the humanitarian situation in Gaza remained dire. “The conversations for a ceasefire has been sliding from one day to another, without getting any result and in the meantime the bombing continues and the number of civilian casualties increasing,” he said.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said Ireland was backing the proposed sanctions targeting Israel, which he said would also include sanctions on organisations facilitating the expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
The Fianna Fáil leader said Ireland would continue to push for a review of the EU’s trade agreement with Israel. “It cannot be business as usual and I say that in the context of the EU-Israel association agreement,” he said.
Gaza had been “levelled” by the Israeli military campaign, with “dire” consequences for Palestinian civilians, he said.
The foreign affairs ministers meeting also discussed the Ukraine-Russia war. Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian minister for foreign affairs, travelled to Brussels to attend the discussion. Ukraine has been pushing for permission to use weapons supplied by western allies to strike targets deep within Russian territory, something it has been restricted from doing to date.
Speaking to journalists before the meeting, Mr Kuleba said Ukraine was only looking for the green light to hit “legitimate” military targets, such as airfields used by Russia to launch bombers that then targeted Ukraine.
“If we are supplied with sufficient amounts of missiles, if we are allowed to strike, we will significantly decrease the capacity of Russia to inflict damage on our critical infrastructure and we will improve the situation for our forces on the ground,” he said.
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