EU Leaders To Step Up Pressure On Israel With New Sanctions Threat

 June 3, 2026 

 EurActiv

By icoletta Ionta

(EurActiv) — The EU will step up pressure on Israel by preparing sanctions against ministers accused of “inciting and promoting human rights abuses” against Gaza aid flotilla activists, according to draft summit conclusions.

This month’s European Council summit will order the beginning of work on sanctions understood to apply to far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, including the sitting national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The draft text “condemns the mistreatment of detainees following the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters” and urges EU foreign ministers “to take work forward on restrictive measures against extremist ministers inciting and promoting such human rights abuses”.

Anger across EU capitals has intensified following Ben-Gvir’s handling of activists detained after Israel intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Momentum for the initiative grew after Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, wrote to Kaja Kallas, EU foreign policy chief, last month, requesting that the issue be formally placed on the EU’s agenda.

Speaking last week, Tajani said the matter would be discussed at the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting, scheduled for 15 June.

Any sanctions regime would require unanimous support from EU member states setting a threshold that remains far from certain. Opposition from the Czech Republic and Bulgaria means there is currently no consensus.

The sanctions proposal appears alongside an increasingly critical and detailed assessment of Israeli policy, including its military action in Lebanon.

The draft text rejects Israel’s reported plans to take control of 70% of Gaza, condemns the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, while warning of the legal and reputational risks facing companies involved in settlement construction.

EU leaders are also expected to call on Israel to allow immediate and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, reopen border crossings, and reverse measures affecting international NGOs operating in the territory.

As with all European Council conclusions, the text remains under negotiation among countries and could be revised before leaders meet later this month. Any eventual sanctions package would still require the approval of all EU governments.