BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he has asked the bloc’s members to consider imposing sanctions on two Israeli ministers for “hate messages” against Palestinians, messages that he said broke international law.
He did not name either of the ministers. But in recent weeks he has publicly criticized Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes.”
Borrell said EU foreign ministers held an initial discussion about his proposal at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday. He said there was no unanimity — which would be required to impose sanctions — but the debate would continue.
“The ministers will decide. It’s up to them, as always. But the process has been launched,” he told reporters.
He said he had proposed that the Israeli ministers be sanctioned for violations of human rights. EU sanctions generally mean a ban on travel to the bloc and a freeze on assets held in the EU.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz accused Borrell of targeting him with false claims that he had called for Palestinians to be displaced from the West Bank. “I oppose the displacement of any population from their homes,” he said.
Diplomats say it is unlikely the EU would find the necessary unanimous agreement among its 27 members to impose sanctions on Israeli government ministers.
But Borrell’s decision to float such a proposal indicates the level of anger among some European officials over the words and actions of some far-right Israeli ministers.
Even ministers from some countries that are strong allies of Israel, such as Germany and the Czech Republic, did not immediately shut down the sanctions discussion in comments to reporters on the sidelines of Thursday’s meeting.
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members, said it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
“We will be supporting Josep Borrell’s recommendation for sanctions in respect of settler organizations in the West Bank who are facilitating (the) expansion of settlements, and also to Israeli ministers,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said.
But Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani dismissed the idea.
“We have to resolve the problems, convince the Israelis to make the choices that will lead to a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said. “This is the real priority.”
Borrell asks EU to consider sanctions on 2 Israeli ministers
https://arab.news/wbe5c
Borrell asks EU to consider sanctions on 2 Israeli ministers
- In recent weeks, Borrell publicly criticized Ben-Gvir and Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes”
Death toll in Iran protests over 3,000, rights group says
- The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule
- President Donald Trump, who had threatened ‘very strong action’ if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings
DUBAI: More than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in Internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The US-based HRANA group said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, after residents said the crackdown appeared to have broadly quelled protests for now and state media reported more arrests.
The capital Tehran has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters. Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
A resident of a northern city on the Caspian Sea said the streets there also appeared calm.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic, culminating in mass violence late last week. According to opposition groups and an Iranian official, more than 2,000 people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Metrics show a very slight rise in Internet connectivity in #Iran this morning” after 200 hours of shutdown, the Internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X. Connectivity remained around 2 percent of ordinary levels, it said.
A few Iranians overseas said on social media that they had been able to message users living inside Iran early on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump, who had threatened “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
Iran had not announced plans for such executions or said it had canceled them.
Indian students and pilgrims returning from Iran said they were largely confined to their accommodations while in the country, unable to communicate with their families back home.
“We only heard stories of violent protests, and one man jumped in front of our car holding a burning baton, shouting something in the local language, with anger visible in his eyes,” said Z Syeda, a third-year medical student at a university in Tehran.
India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that commercial flights were available and that New Delhi would take steps to secure the safety and welfare of Indian nationals.
