EU remains deeply divided on sanctioning illegal Israeli settlements

The Israeli settlement of Neve Yaakov in the northern area of East Jerusalem, foreground, and the Palestinian neighbourhood of al-Ram, background, are divided by Israel’s separation barrier

AFP, DPA and Reuters report in Al Jazeera on 13 July 2026:

A European Union foreign ministers’ summit has failed to approve a motion seeking to impose trade sanctions on illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The summit on Monday debated three options set out in a confidential paper by the European Commission, but failed to back any of them decisively. The result illustrates that the bloc remains deeply divided over efforts by some member states to act on the issue.

The foreign ministers discussed the trio of options put forward: an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs, or a ban on trade.

EU foreign policy ⁠chief Kaja Kallas said that the ban received the most support, but that there was no clear majority for a single option. She added that ambassadors from member states were tasked with further work on the issue.

“In the coming weeks, there needs to be clarity about where that group in the middle stands,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen about a collection of moderate countries that are still considering their position.  “Then we hope to be able to take another step at the end of the summer [in September],” he said.

Pressure from EU member states to impose sanctions has increased in recent months due to escalating violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property and the Israeli government’s continued expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law.

“Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable,” Kallas said at the start of the meeting in Brussels, Belgium.  “What is happening in the West Bank is actually making it more and more impossible that the two-state solution ever can come into effect,” she added.

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