2024-02-13 10:18:14
Palestinian civilians today asked the European Union to introduce sanctions against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and four Israeli ministers for crimes and human rights violations in the West Bank, AFP reported, citing a French law firm that acts as a representative of the Palestinians.
The request was addressed to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, by lawyer Sarah Samor of the law firm “Deumen”, which represents 21 Palestinians living in various places in the West Bank.
The document, addressed to Borrell, calls for the EU to introduce sanctions against Benjamin Netanyahu and against Israeli ministers Yoav Galant (defense), Ron Dermer (strategic affairs), Itamar Ben Gvir (national security affairs) and Bezalel Smotrich ( finances) because of their “participation in crimes and serious violations of human rights”.
“The applicants are victims of crimes, including attacks involving violence, arbitrary arrests, torture, ill-treatment and forced displacement,” the text added.
Among the petitioners, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, is a woman whose two sons were killed earlier this month in an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in the West Bank, BTA writes.
“These actions are part of a long-standing policy of illegal colonization and the institutionalized practice of systematic attacks against the civilian population of the West Bank, constituting crimes against humanity within the meaning of the Rome Statute,” said the request addressed to Borrell.
The West Bank, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, has been wracked by violence since the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip began. Israel launched its military operation in Gaza after Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack on the Jewish state on October 7 last year.