Paris, April 23 (SANA) French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday the European Union is expected to impose sanctions in the coming days on Israeli settlers involved in killing Palestinians and carrying out arson attacks in the West Bank.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Barrot said in an interview with France Info radio: “Our objective is for the Israeli government to change its policy, to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, to put an end to illegal settlement activities in the West Bank, and to stop the acts of violence committed by settlers against Palestinians.”
Barrot said he has supported for the past year the imposition of sanctions on entities and individuals responsible for killing Palestinians or carrying out arson attacks in the West Bank. He noted that such European sanctions had been frozen for a year due to a Hungarian veto, which could now be lifted.
He added: “If the Israeli government does not change its policy, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, it will not be possible to act as if nothing has happened.”
The West Bank, under Israeli occupation since 1967, has seen an escalation in settler violence. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) reported on Wednesday that the number of Palestinians killed in settler attacks since the beginning of the year has reached 15.
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