EU agrees on sanctions against violent Israeli settlers

The European Union’s foreign ministers have agreed in principle on imposing sanctions against violent Israeli settlers, who will be slapped with travel bans and asset freezes upon implementation of the measures.

“A solid compromise has been agreed at the working level and I hope that this will be continued until full adoption soon, but the political agreement is there,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after the ministers met in Brussels on Monday.

“Today, we have approved, unanimously, the sanctions against the violent settlers that harass the Palestinians in the West Bank,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also said.

The violence has ramped up over the past months. Combined with the Israeli regime’s raids across the occupied territory, aggression perpetrated by the illegal settlers has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians throughout the period.

Earlier this month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk expressed serious concern regarding the rising settler violence in a report to the world body’s Human Rights Council.