France says EU may adopt sanctions on violent Israeli settlers ‘in the coming days’

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says that the European Union may impose sanctions on Israelis linked to violent settler attacks “in the coming days,” warning that Israel cannot be treated “as if nothing is happening” if its policies do not change.

Speaking to French broadcaster franceinfo, Barrot says he has been pushing “for a year” for sanctions against those responsible for the killings of Palestinians and arson attacks in the West Bank.

He notes the measures are currently blocked at the EU level by a Hungarian veto, but expresses optimism that “we will be able to adopt sanctions in the coming days.”

Barrot reiterates France’s criticisms of Israeli policy, saying Paris condemns Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, and calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza as well as an end to “illegal settlement activity and the surge in violence by extremist settlers” in the West Bank.

At the same time, he stresses that the aim is not to suspend EU-Israel ties for their own sake, but to drive policy change.

“Our objective is not to suspend for the sake of suspending; our objective is for things to change and for the Israeli government to change its policy,” he says.