Tajani holds back on possible EU sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers: “They are not terrorists”

Brussels – Systematic violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories is not a terrorist act. There is no doubt in the mind of Vice-Premier Antonio Tajani, who has its say from the EU capital on the possibility of banning extremist settlers who engage in violence against the Palestinian civilian population from entering the Schengen area.

“I condemn the violence, but the settlers are not a terrorist organization,” the foreign minister said on the sidelines of the summit with counterparts from the 27 EU countries. The issue was brought to the table of the European ministers – and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell – by the Belgian government, which is ready to prohibit settlers who commit crimes in the West Bank from entering its territory. “In order for this measure to be effective, I have asked to prohibit it throughout the Schengen area,” explained the Belgian minister, Hadja Lahbib, citing the latest data collected by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha): “Seven acts of violence a day committed by violent settlers, an extremely disturbing situation.”

Since October 7, Ocha-Opt has recorded 331 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities. With a death toll of eight, 35 incidents of violence with at least one injured, and 251 incidents in which local community property was damaged. The weekly average of attacks increased from 21 incidents, recorded between January and September 2023, to 36 incidents after October 7.

Tajani, however, immediately sent the proposal back to the sender: “That of using violence or attacking the Palestinian population in the West Bank is something I do not agree with, but we cannot equate Hamas with Jewish settlers,” the minister quipped. Because the Palestinian terrorist organization “has been guilty of filthy crimes” that “cry out for vengeance.” Hamas has “searched people house to house, killed three-month-old babies, raped women and then killed them and played soccer with their breasts.”

Italy, France, and Germany have addressed a letter to Borrell expressing “their strong support” for the establishment of an ad hoc sanctions regime for Hamas militants, affiliated groups, and its supporters, “to politically stigmatize the October 7 attacks, isolate Hamas internationally, and deprive it of financial and logistical support from third parties.” The bloc’s three largest countries lead EU action against Palestinian terrorists but react differently to the Belgian proposal to sanction Israeli settlers. An idea that, moreover, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also put on the plate in Washington. “The situation in the West Bank worries us because of too many cases of violence committed by extremist settlers. France is considering taking national measures,” admitted Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.