LONDON, 12 June. - (ANA) - Rights groups argue that recent European sanctions on extremist Jewish Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank fall short of real accountability and fail to put an end to attacks on Palestinians.

 

The foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Norway said on Tuesday they had taken coordinated action to hold extremist Israeli settlers accountable in response to what they described as a "deteriorating situation" in the occupied West Bank.

 

The group of countries warned that they stood ready to take further measures if the Israeli government failed to take urgent steps to address the situation on the ground.

 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has also announced a ban on far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, citing his abuses.

 

Despite these actions, however, human rights organisations say much more needs to be done to put an end to the systematic violence.

 

"These sanctions don’t go nearly far enough. Instead of addressing the structural factors driving ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, the UK government has opted to do the bare minimum," Thomas Bell, acting UK Director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

 

"The harrowing scenes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories aren’t created by a few rogue elements, but by a culture of impunity that’s fostered by the Israeli government while it pursues a policy of rapid settlement expansion," he added.

 

The far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has advanced the construction and expansion of Jewish-only settlements - widely considered illegal under international law - a policy that has eroded Palestinian land and driven the forced displacement of Palestinian residents.

 

One of the biggest settlement projects given the green light is the E1 construction project covering around 12 square kilometres of some 3,400 housing units. Palestinians argue the move risks further dividing occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

 

Bell said the UK government must fulfil its international obligations to protect the rights of Palestinians by going much further than piecemeal sanctions.

 

"The UK should ban all trade with illegal settlements, suspend all arms transfers to Israel, impose targeted sanctions on more individuals at the highest levels who are implicated in serious abuses, and throw its full weight behind the International Criminal Court and its ongoing investigations", he added.

 

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) likewise says the sanctions are necessary but insufficient.

 

The charity’s Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, Rohan Talbot, says the UK’s sanctions on settlers "barely move the dial" on ending Israeli annexation and apartheid in the West Bank.

 

"The government must urgently go further and end the impunity with which Israel is expanding illegal settlements, entrenching its occupation, and violently pushing Palestinian communities off their land," said Talbot.

 

He described how MAP’s mobile clinics reach communities cut off from healthcare by settlements, checkpoints, movement restrictions, and apartheid policies that systematically deny them access to services.

 

"We see the consequences first hand," Talbot continued, speaking about "livelihoods destroyed, people injured and killed in violent attacks, and patients travelling hours for basic treatment while life-saving care remains out of reach."

 

Echoing HRW’s position, MAP urged the British government to immediately end trade with illegal settlements, warning that any sanctions would otherwise be rendered ineffective.

 

In a Wednesday report, Amnesty International said Israeli settlers and settler organisations have faced little or no repercussions in Israel even after being placed under sanctions, continuing instead to engage in human rights abuses and attacks against Palestinians.

 

There has been a spike in deadly attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, especially since the start of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza in October 2023. More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in military raids and settler assaults, according to Palestinian figures, with dozens of towns and refugee camps witnessing repeated waves of displacement.

 

Assaults have included physical violence, arson, the uprooting of trees, and the burning of groves. Even Israeli officials have described settler attacks as “Jewish terrorism” and warned that they risk igniting a new intifada (uprising).

 

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and considers it an integral part of the Israeli state. Many Palestinians want to see the territory along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip part of a sovereign Palestinian state.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/12 June 2026 - - -