EU foreign policy chief wants bloc to sanction Israeli ministers

The EU foreign policy chief has said he will ask the bloc’s foreign ministers to consider sanctions against Israeli ministers, who have been launching “unacceptable hate messages against Palestinians.”

Before attending the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Josep Borrell told reporters on Thursday that he initiated the procedures.

He will ask the member states whether they would consider “including in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers” who have been “proposing things that goes clearly against international law” and are an invitation to “commit war crimes.”

The EU should not have taboos to use its toolbox “to make humanitarian law respected.”

EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for an informal meeting to discuss global and regional topics including the war in Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following a Hamas attack last October 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in more than 40,500 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,700 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.