France to impose travel bans on violent Israeli settlers

France will ban 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, accusing them of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the foreign ministry in Paris said today. There are an estimated 720,000 illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“These measures come as violence perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian population has increased in recent months,” added the ministry. “France reaffirms its firm condemnation of this unacceptable violence.” The individuals affected were not named.

According to Reuters, UN figures show that daily settler attacks have more than doubled since the Hamas attack on Israel last October and the ensuing Israeli military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. While much international attention has focused on that cross-border assault and Israel’s subsequent war, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

READ: UK sanctions ‘extremist’ Israeli settlers in West Bank

The US and Britain have expressed similar concerns and have already imposed sanctions on several settlers whom they say are responsible for violence. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in December that he would also propose similar measures. Paris has backed that initiative and diplomats have said that they hope that once its measures are in place it could speed up the European process.

A joint statement issued by the French, Polish and German foreign ministers on Monday said settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank was unacceptable and “shall be sanctioned.”

EU efforts have stalled so far due to objections from Hungary and the Czech Republic, said diplomats. However, they added that a compromise may be found later to let the measures proceed, possibly after more EU sanctions against Hamas.

“Colonisation is illegal under international law and must stop,” insisted the French foreign ministry. “Its continuation is incompatible with the creation of a viable Palestinian state, which is the only solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live, side by side, in peace and security.”

READ: Settlers terrorise Palestinians in West Bank, set fire to home