DaysofPal- France announced on Tuesday a new package of sanctions targeting Israeli officials and settlers over the expansion of settlements and rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank. The measures were coordinated with the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a post on X that the six countries had agreed to take joint action against individuals deemed responsible for escalating settlement activity and related violence in the West Bank.
Barrot stated that France had imposed a national entry ban on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The sanctions also target four officials linked to settlement organizations and 21 settlers accused of involvement in acts of violence.
According to the French minister, Smotrich has openly advocated for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, supported the expansion of existing settlements and the establishment of new ones, and called for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Barrot argued that the Israeli minister’s policies, including measures that place economic pressure on the Palestinian Authority, run counter to the international consensus supporting a two-state solution. He warned that such policies threaten regional stability and undermine prospects for a political settlement.
The sanctions come at a time of intensified settlement activity across the occupied West Bank. According to a report issued by the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, 1,659 alleged violations by Israeli forces and settlers were documented during May, including land confiscations, land clearing operations, and settlement expansion projects.
The report also noted that new settlement plans approved in early June included more than 230 housing units in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, east of Hebron, as part of broader projects involving 2,721 settlement units across various areas of the West Bank.
In a related development, Israel’s Higher Planning Committee reportedly approved the construction of 2,162 additional settlement units in settlements located in both the northern and southern West Bank. Israeli media described the move as part of ongoing efforts to expand settlement infrastructure and strengthen settler presence on Palestinian land.
European governments have continued to criticize Israeli settlement policies, arguing that they undermine the viability of a two-state solution and contribute to heightened tensions and instability in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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