Measures for Gaza
EU Commission plans far-reaching sanctions against Israel
17.09.2025 – 1:56 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The EU authority plans far-reaching measures against Israel because of the procedure in Gaza. Hamas also ends up on the sanction list.
Against the background of the military approach of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, the EU Commission presented a catalog of measures to increase the pressure on the Israeli government. Among other things, the sanction package provides for a partial suspension of the EU Association Agreement with Israel, as a high-ranking representative of the EU Commission announced on Wednesday. In addition, the Commission proposes sanctions against two right -wing extremist Israeli ministers and extremist Israeli settlers as well as members of the radical Islamic Hamas.
The partial suspension of the agreement would result in the tariffs increasing to certain goods from Israel. According to the EU Commission, this affects about 37 percent of imports from Israel, especially agricultural products such as dates, fruit and nuts. The EU imported goods worth 15.9 billion euros from Israel in 2024.
According to the Commission, the measures are likely to lead to additional tariffs of around 227 million euros. In return, Israel could increase tariffs on goods from the EU.
The ministers who want to prove the Commission with sanctions are finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. According to the information, ten members of the Hamas Politburos should also be proven with sanctions. Some of them stayed in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank and partly abroad, it said.
The EU countries still have to approve the list of sanctions. The Federal Government has so far always spoke out against a suspension of the agreement with Israel. Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said with a view to the sanctions against Israel that the federal government has formed “no final opinion”. The expediency of such suggestions must “always be checked in the light as to whether they are targeted,” he added. The expectation that Israel’s politics will change through such measures may be “may be exaggerated”.
