Spain to sanction violent Israeli settlers in West Bank
Spain is attempting to become one the EU leaders in standing up to savage Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Reuters reported.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on February 19 that the country would impose sanctions on the settlers should fellow EU members fail to reach an agreement on the issue.
An Israeli settler sanction has been high on the agenda for the European bloc as Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said on the same day that he is hopeful that all members would unanimously be on board with the idea.
Ireland has historically been the most pro-Palestinian country in Europe which can be explained by the country’s long and brutal experience of colonisation by the British therefore in a way relating to the oppressed Palestinian people. Palestinian flags on the streets of Dublin sell like hotcakes.
Albares confirmed before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on February 19 that, “If there’s no agreement, Spain will proceed individually with these sanctions against the violent settlers,”
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France has also been acting tough on the matter and last week, they banned 28 people accused of assaulting Palestinians from its territory.
In November, France’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson called Israeli settler violence a “clear objective of forced displacement of the Palestinians and a policy of terror.”
Although the main focus is on Gaza where over 29,000 civilians have been murdered and the overwhelming majority of residents have been displaced, attacks on Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank are a cause for concern among the international community.
Josep Borrell , the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was strong in his condemnation of Israeli settler violence in the territory late last year and stressed the need for a two-state solution.
Just over 500 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed in the whole of 2023.
Reuters
