Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said on Monday that the European Union's top diplomats had a "significant discussion" about possible sanctions against Israel for the first time since the start of its conflict with Hamas on October 7. He said the foreign ministers considered sanctions on Israel if it does not comply with the International Court of Justice's ruling on the Rafah offensive, as well as on Israeli government officials supporting violent extremist settlers in the West Bank.
"There is some distance between people articulating the need for a sanctions-based approach if Israel does not comply with International Court of Justice rulings, [and] obviously there is no agreement at EU council level given the different perspectives there," Martin told Irish broadcaster RTE. "But there is a lot of concern there across the EU council among member states in respect of what is a clear situation where the International Court of Justice has made provisional orders."
