The European Union should consider imposing sanctions against Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for comments constituting "incitement to war crimes," the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday. 

“Sanctions must be on our EU agenda,” Borrell wrote on X, adding, "I urge the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from these incitements to commit war crimes, and call it to engage in good faith in the negotiations facilitated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt for an immediate ceasefire."

While the World pushes for a ceasefire in #Gaza, Min. Ben Gvir calls for cutting fuel & aid to civilians.

Like Min. Smotrich sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes. Sanctions must be on our EU agenda.

I support UN @Volker_Turk in his strong condamnations. 1/2

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 11, 2024

Borrell also condemned Security Minister Ben-Gvir urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut off all humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip during the occupation's ongoing genocide. 

The top diplomat described Finance Minister Smotrich's remarks on starving two million Gazans by withholding aid in exchange for Israeli captives as "sinister," contrasting the Israeli minister claiming the approach is "justified and moral."

Volker Turk, the United Nations rights chief, condemned the Israeli minister's statements, requesting an investigation and punishment if a crime is found. 

Israeli ministers react

In an interview with Israeli news outlet Kan, Smotrich claimed his comments had been misunderstood, stating “What I said is that we must allow in humanitarian aid because no one will let us starve Gazans, but what I also said is that morally we must condition [the entry of] humanitarian aid on a humanitarian [concession] and tell Hamas, the Gazans and the world that we allow aid in under the condition that they return our hostages."

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“The hostages are languishing in the tunnels and we pamper the Gaza Strip [with aid]," he added. "In my eyes, this is immoral and unjust."

Ben-Gvir appeared in a radio interview on Sunday, denouncing the continuation of the negotiation process of a captive-ceasefire deal with the Palestinian Resistance group, suggesting cutting off fuel and humanitarian aid in Gaza to “bring them to their knees in two weeks.”

US sanctions Israeli ministers

The Biden Administration considered including the security ministers in their sanctions imposed against settlers involved in attacking Palestinians in the West Bank, US officials told Israeli media last month. 

These stricter sanctions were implemented in an attempt to change the Israeli government's genocidal expansion of settlements and disregard for the Palestinian Authority while aiming to prevent extreme members of the Israeli government from aligning with extremist settler groups.

Smotrich abused his position as both finance and defense minister, overseeing settlement affairs in the latter department, by arranging advance plans for 5,000 settlements, legalizing wildcat outposts, and annexing land from the West Bank. In exchange, the occupation official agreed to release hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues confiscated from the Palestinian Authority, bringing them to the brink of a financial collapse.

Before releasing the funds, the Biden administration was considering imposing sanctions on Smotrich, a US official told The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu protests US sanctions on Israeli settlers at the White House

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protested against US sanctions on Israeli settlers imposed by the Biden administration for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank to White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan on July 25, two Israeli and US officials said.

The occupation's leader raised concerns about the United States potentially establishing sanctions against Israeli cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, expressing to Sullivan that they are counterproductive. 

For his part, the White House advisor disagreed with Netanyahu regarding the imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers, adding that the Biden administration would continue with this policy.

"The Vice President also expressed her concern about actions that undermine stability and security in the West Bank, such as extremist settler violence and settlement expansion," Kamala Harris' spokesperson said in response to Netanyahu's raised concerns about the vice president.