EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday that the bloc is discussing additional sanctions against Israeli occupiers amid increasing illegal settlement expansion, forced displacement and record levels of illegal settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Addressing a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the escalating situation in the Middle East, Kallas said illegal settlement and outpost expansion in the West Bank is continuing to increase alongside forced displacements and violence by settlers.
"On top of three packages of sanctions against extremist settlers, discussions are now ongoing in the (European) Council on possible further designations. Accountability is a prerequisite for reigning in violent settlers," she said.
She said the EU, together with international partners including the UK, must continue to demand a halt to settlement expansion, including a planned E1 settlement project.
The E1 project, located in eastern Jerusalem, "seriously threatens the viability of the two-state solution," said Kallas.
Turning to the Gaza Strip, Kallas said the humanitarian situation is worsening despite a ceasefire, describing it as a "ceasefire in name only."
"People are still being killed and wounded," she said, warning that overcrowded displacement sites face risks of flooding and disease as winter approaches.
Kallas also pointed to upcoming Israeli elections and Palestinian legislative elections as potential "important turning points," saying the EU is ready to assist, particularly with the Palestinian elections.
