War between Israel and Hamas: France plans to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank

Paris is tightening its tone. France plans to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers responsible for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the head of diplomacy will raise the issue at European level on Monday, December 11, during a meeting in Brussels, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “This violence must stop, and the Israeli authorities have a responsibility to ensure that it does so and to bring those responsible to justice,” Quai spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said at a news conference.

“For our part, we will also take responsibility. We are considering measures to ban French territory and freeze assets at the national as well as at the European level,” she added, stressing that Minister Catherine Colonna “will raise this issue at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday” in Brussels.

“We continue negotiations with our European partners”

When asked about the timing, a Quai representative clarified that work to identify specific individuals continues. “We are continuing our discussions with our European partners” and “we hope that we can move forward both at the national and European level,” she also said. Berlin has already called on the European Union to consider such sanctions. France regularly condemns violence committed by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Last week, Anne-Claire Legendre stressed that these violations would “deeply destabilize the region” and undermine prospects for a two-state solution. She then indicated that France was not ruling out “any option,” referring to the possibility of imposing sanctions against individuals or groups of settlers. On Tuesday, the United States announced sanctions against dozens of people who will be barred from entering the United States.