European Union top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the bloc has agreed to go forward with additional sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
"EU Foreign Ministers just gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians," Kallas wrote on Monday on X.
"They also agreed new sanctions on leading Hamas figures," she wrote without naming any individuals.
"It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery. Extremisms and violence carry consequences."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded in a post on X that "Israel firmly rejects the decision to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations."
"The European Union has chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis," he wrote.
The agreement reached on Monday will kick off the legislative procedure in the EU to impose sanctions, meaning that they will enter into force at a later date.
Plans to sanction individuals and organizations involved in expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with asset freezes and travel bans were on hold as Hungary, under former prime minister Viktor Orbán, had opposed the move.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that after the change of government in Budapest, an agreement became possible.
However, ahead of the decision, Kallas admitted that there was no sufficient consensus among EU countries for now to move forward with more far-reaching measures, as some capitals are calling for restricting trade of goods from Israeli settlements.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergar called for tariffs on such imports as well as for slapping sanctions on "Israeli ministers that are driving these settlements."
Stenergar said she hopes her proposal to impose tariffs on goods from settlements would reach sufficient backing, as it was a "middle way" between those calling for a trade ban and those who oppose further measures.
German State Minister Gunther Krichbaum said Berlin is committed to continuing the dialogue with Israel and is "trying to influence the government and thus the region."
