STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Sweden and the Netherlands have urged the EU to adopt sanctions on Israel and Hamas over the war in Gaza, including suspending the EU-Israel trade deal, according to a document seen by AFP on Thursday.
In a letter to European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, the Swedish and Dutch foreign ministers called for targeted sanctions on Israeli government ministers and Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and new sanctions on the political leadership of Hamas.
They also demanded the suspension of the commercial section of an association accord between the EU and Israel that allows for free trade in several sectors, notably industry and agriculture.
The topic is to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen on Saturday.
The letter, dated August 27, “recalls the need to speedily… introduce targeted sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers who promote illegal settlement activities, and actively work against a negotiated two-state solution, and the need for additional sanctions against violent settlers.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has been calling since May for sanctions against far-right ministers in the Israeli cabinet who have pushed for the annexation of Gaza and the West Bank.
She told Swedish public radio SR on Thursday the aim should be to create “difficulties” for the ministers who have led the campaign to expand Jewish settlements in the territories.
Caspar Veldkamp resigned as the Netherlands’ foreign minister last week after the Dutch cabinet failed to agree on new national sanctions against Israel over its tactics in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He has been replaced by Ruben Brekelmans.
In their letter, Stenergard and Brekelmans asked the EU foreign service to “present additional proposals on ways to increase pressure on Hamas,” which is in power in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is already banned as a terrorist organization by the EU and many Western nations.
On Friday, the United Nations officially declared there was famine in Gaza, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.
Israel swiftly rejected the accusation, with the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, the Defense Ministry body that oversees aid, declaring that the report was based on “biased and self-interested sources originating from Hamas.”
The push from Sweden and the Netherlands to sanction Israel comes after the EU decided not to adopt punitive measures against the Jewish state last month, as member states remain divided over the issue.
But when she announced that decision, Kallas said the bloc would continue to monitor Israel’s implementation of an agreement to boost aid to Gaza, and that if Israel failed to implement the steps it promised to take, it would reconsider punitive measures.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.