The European Council on Thursday adopted measures against extremist Israeli settlers, in an effort to curb human rights abuses against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank.

The restrictive measures were issued under the EU Global Human Rights Sanction Regime, which allows the EU to “impose sanctions on individuals and entities in response to human rights abuses and violations worldwide.” It designated measures against “four entities and three individuals” who the EU finds have enabled and/or supported Israeli extremism and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians. The European Council named the Nachala Settlement Movement and its director, Daniella Weiss, stating that the Nachala Settlement’s “outposts” are “persistent sources of settler violence.” The council also designated Amana, the NGO Regavim and its director, Meir Deutsch, and the NGO Hashomer Yosh and its president, Avichai Suissa.

The restrictive measures include an asset freeze, a “prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to them, either directly or indirectly,” and a travel ban.

Throughout 2026, Israel’s government “has accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and ‘annexation’ of the Occupied West Bank.” According to a UN report in March, “[T]his has led to forced displacement of over 36,000 Palestinians” and “enabled the drastic escalation in settler violence.”

Forced displacement of civilian populations is prohibited under the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Violence against civilians is also prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and the ICC Statute.

The European Council stated that its additional measures are consistent with the Foreign Affairs Council’s political agreement on May 11, 2026, condemning the growing settler violence against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and affirming the necessity to use sanctions against “extremist settlers” and “leading Hamas figures.”