Brussels: Forty-one Members of the European Parliament have condemned the escalating violence by settlers in the West Bank, calling for sanctions against the settlers. They also demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the suspension of trade relations and the EU-Israel partnership agreement in response to Israel's continued violations of international law.
According to Qatar News Agency, this came in a letter addressed to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen; President of the European Council Antonio Costa; and Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. The MPs referred in their letter to the settlers' attack on the village of Kisan east of Bethlehem on July 25, which included the burning of several homes; their attack on the town of Taybeh east of Ramallah on July 27; and the killing of human rights activist Odeh Hathaleen, who contributed to the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," during a settler attack on the village of Umm Al Khair in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, on July 28.
The letter added that the violence peaked on the night of July 30-31 in the town of Silwad east of Ramallah, where young man Khamis Abdel Latif Ayad was martyred by suffocation while trying to extinguish a fire in his home, which broke out as a result of a settler attack. The MPs affirmed in their letter that these escalating attacks come in the context of new Israeli political decisions that explicitly encourage such practices; the Israeli Knesset adopted on July 23 a resolution supporting the annexation of the West Bank.
The Members of the European Parliament called in their letter for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages, the suspension of trade relations and the EU-Israel partnership agreement in response to Israel's continued violations of international law, and the imposition of comprehensive measures targeting all Israeli settlers, especially those involved in acts of violence. These measures include revoking dual citizenship, imposing travel bans, and freezing assets. They also called for the implementation of the two-state solution as the only viable framework for achieving a just and lasting peace.
They further demanded the full reinstatement of UNRWA as the legitimate UN agency for distributing humanitarian aid, in light of the failure of recent alternative mechanisms and the tragic incidents associated with them. The signatory MPs represent the countries of: Spain, Sweden, France, Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Denmark, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Cyprus, and Slovakia.