EU foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions targeting Israeli settlers and settler organizations in the occupied West Bank. The decision, announced on Monday, follows months of delay caused by opposition from Hungary under former prime minister Viktor Orban; that opposition eased after Orban was ousted in last month’s election.
The measures were drafted in response to a rise in violence against Palestinians amid ongoing settlement expansion in the West Bank. Violence in the Palestinian territories increased after the October 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that some 45 Palestinians, including 11 children, have been killed in the West Bank in 2026.
EU officials said the package also includes new sanctions on leading Hamas figures. The bloc’s foreign policy chief signaled the move on social media, saying ministers had given the go‑ahead to sanction settlers over violence toward Palestinians and stressing that extremism and violence carry consequences. France’s foreign minister described the measures as aimed at organizations and leaders who support what he called the extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank, and called for the most serious acts to stop immediately.
Israeli officials strongly criticized the decision. Israel’s foreign minister rejected the sanctions, calling them arbitrary and politically motivated and arguing they target Israeli citizens and groups for their political views.
The current measures reportedly target three individuals and four settler organizations; their identities have not been made public. The EU has previously sanctioned extremist West Bank settlers, including a 2024 package that imposed asset freezes and travel bans on several people and entities. Some member states have urged tougher steps, such as banning or taxing products from settlements and sanctioning Israeli ministers seen as driving settlement policy—Sweden’s foreign minister explicitly called for tariffs and additional measures.
Formally, Monday’s agreement starts the EU’s legislative procedure for imposing the new sanctions; the measures will come into effect once that process is completed. While the bloc has moved forward on measures aimed at settlers, member states have not reached consensus on broader actions toward Israel, such as curbing trade ties.
The sanctions mark a notable step by the EU to respond to settler violence and settlement expansion, while underscoring persistent divisions within the bloc over how far to go in pressuring Israel as the conflict and its humanitarian toll continue.