The European Union has renewed its call on Israel to halt the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning that continued construction and settler violence, including attacks on Palestinian children, are pushing the region toward further instability.
The EU’s statement came as reports emerged of Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian children in the West Bank, adding urgency to a growing diplomatic push within the bloc to impose tougher measures on Israel over its settlement policy.
Pressure is mounting inside the EU to sanction Israel directly over its illegal settlements. In May, EU foreign ministers formally approved sanctions against individual Israeli settlers over attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, after months of Hungarian opposition fell away following a change of government in Budapest.
“EU Foreign Ministers just gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote after the decision. “They also agreed new sanctions on leading Hamas figures. It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery. Extremisms and violence carry consequences.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot struck a similarly forceful tone. “The European Union is sanctioning today the main Israeli organizations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank, as well as their leaders,” he said.
Those sanctions targeted individuals linked to violence, but several member countries are already pushing for tougher measures. France and Sweden are backing restrictions on trade with settlements, while broader proposals such as suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement remain deeply divisive inside the bloc.
Kallas said there had been “a call by many member states to take this forward” on trade restrictions with settlements, and the Commission would work on presenting proposals.
The urgency is driven by the accelerating pace of settlement expansion. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing in Israeli history, with settlers in key positions, expansion has been turbocharged. Land seized through unauthorized outposts has more than doubled since the war in Gaza began, according to the settlement watchdog Kerem Navot.
Some 500,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements. The international community largely considers their presence illegal under international law. Palestinians say expanding outposts are shrinking their access to land, and settler violence has soared since the war began.
Canada has signaled it is also considering additional actions. Foreign Minister Anita Anand, who attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council, told reporters that Ottawa is “considering additional actions that we may take” against settlers.
The EU’s renewed call comes as the bloc’s leverage over Israel remains limited. The settlements keep expanding, the violence continues, and the diplomatic machinery produces statements. Whether this time is different, whether the EU can move from calling for a halt to enforcing one, remains to be seen.