RAMALLAH, September 16, 2026 (WAFA) — EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the Council of the European Union is continuing discussions on decisions that could include imposing new sanctions on Israeli colonists in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking during a debate on the Middle East held by the European Parliament in Strasbourg last night, Kallas said settler acts of looting and land seizure in the occupied West Bank continue to escalate, noting that colonist violence has reached its highest levels.

She said discussions within the EU Council are ongoing over a possible package of sanctions, in addition to the three previous packages targeting extremist settlers, stressing that “accountability is a fundamental condition for curbing violent colonists.”

Kallas added that the colonial settlement project known as “E1” in occupied East Jerusalem poses a serious threat to the two-state solution, stressing the need for the European Union and its international partners to continue calling for an end to land seizures and efforts to take control of Palestinian territory.

Regarding the situation in Gaza, Kallas warned that the already catastrophic humanitarian situation is likely to worsen as winter approaches, noting that densely populated displacement areas face the risk of flooding and disease. She stressed that “the ceasefire exists only on paper; people are still being killed and injured.”

Irish Member of the European Parliament Barry Andrews, for his part, said in his remarks that Israel is seeking to make life for Palestinians in the West Bank impossible by cutting off water supplies to their facilities, carrying out ethnic cleansing and demolishing villages with bulldozers.

Andrews stressed that banning trade with illegal settlements is “the least we can do.”

Y.S