Brussels to propose sanctions against Israel as Gaza war escalates

The European Commission will present sanctions against Israel on Wednesday, while the Israeli military presses ahead with a ground offensive in Gaza City.

“Tomorrow, during the College meeting, commissioners will be adopting a package of measures on Israel,” Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said Tuesday during a briefing.

The plan includes suspending certain trade provisions under the EU-Israel Euro-Mediterranean Agreement and sanctioning extremist government ministers and violent settlers.

The biggest obstacle to the plan is Germany. The EU's largest country is also one of Israel's staunchest defenders, with its leaders feeling they owe a historic debt to the world's only Jewish nation due to Nazi Germany's role as the perpetrator of the Holocaust.

Germany has impeded European efforts to pressure Israel diplomatically into halting its military assault on Gaza, which has reduced much of the strip to rubble and had a huge human cost.

Asked by Euronews how she would convince Germany to shift its stance, the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she would push the country to "bring alternatives" if it won't agree to proposed measures.

"If Germany had agreed to something a couple of years ago or agrees now, then it would actually put pressure on Israel and the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank may not be as grave as it is now," she added.

Kallas and Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will provide further details during a press conference Wednesday.

The proposals were first outlined by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the Union speech in Strasbourg last week.