EU should ban Israeli ministers for ‘incitement of war crimes’: Borrel
The European Union foreign policy chief said the bloc should consider sanctioning far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, after they said aid to Gaza should be blocked and the starvation of two million people in the territory could be justified.
“While the world pushes for a cease-fire in Gaza, Min. Ben Gvir calls for cutting fuel and aid to civilians,” he said on X. “Like Min. Smotrich sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes. Sanctions must be on our EU agenda.”
Ben-Gvir said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday that the transfer of humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip should be stopped “until all our captives” held by Hamas are released.
In the same post, Ben-Gvir also called for the permanent occupation of Gaza.
His comments after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week that he believes blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza is “justified and moral” even if it causes two million civilians to die of hunger in the coastal Palestinian sliver.
Borrel’s call came as an increasing number of states have threatened to impose sanctions on senior Israeli officials over their conduct during the Gaza war.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are considered to be among the ministers most likely to face sanctions.
‘No further delay’ to
cease-fire
Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain said Monday that “there can be no further delay” in negotiating a cease-fire in
Gaza.
The joint statement came after one of the deadliest reported Israeli strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip in more than 10 months of war.
“The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement.
“The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid,” the statement said. “There can be no further delay.”
International mediators have invited Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations towards a long-sought truce and prisoner-release deal, as the fighting in Gaza and the killings of resistance leaders have sent tensions soaring across the region.
Hamas on Sunday called on US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators to implement a cease-fire plan for Gaza put forward by US President Joe Biden, instead of holding “more negotiations.”