Spain threat to impose its own sanctions on Israeli settlers if Europe doesn’t agree to this issue
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday that his country will unilaterally impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who practice violence in the West Bank if European Union member states don’t reach an agreement on this matter.
He added that Spain, which also criticizes the Israeli military attack on Gaza, will press for approval of such sanctions during the European Union foreign ministers’ meeting to be held in Brussels on Monday.
“If an agreement isn’t reached, Spain will proceed unilaterally with imposing these sanctions on settlers who practice violence,” Albarez told reporters before the meeting.
Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin expressed earlier, Monday, his hope that European Union countries would unanimously agree to these sanctions.
Last week, the French authorities prevented 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, accusing them of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
United Nations figures show that daily settler attacks have doubled since the surprise attack by the Palestinian factions mainly Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli attack on Gaza.
While international attention is focused on the Hamas attack on towns near Gaza and the war that Israel subsequently launched on the Strip, European officials also expressed concern about the escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
