{"id":383369,"date":"2026-04-09T15:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/383369\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:10:17","slug":"eu-sanctions-back-on-agenda-amid-israels-carnage-in-lebanon-euobserver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/383369\/","title":{"rendered":"EU sanctions back on agenda amid Israel\u2019s \u2018carnage\u2019 in Lebanon \u2013 EUobserver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s \u201chorrific carnage\u201d in Lebanon has revived a threat of EU sanctions, while also seeing Iran re-close the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The \u201cmeasures [sanctions] are still on the table\u201d, warned a European Commission spokeswoman on Thursday (9 April), with commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who first proposed them last September, to hold emergency talks with her 26 commissioners on the Middle East on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this day of mourning \u2026 We express our deepest solidarity [with Lebanon] \u2026 our thoughts are with the victims and families of those affected by the severe levels of violence,\u201d a second spokesman said.<\/p>\n

The EU foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, and several member states\u2019 foreign ministers also condemned Israel\u2019s killing of some 200 civilians<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsraeli strikes \u200bkilled hundreds \u200blast \u2060night, making it hard to \u200bargue that \u200bsuch \u2060heavy-handed actions fall within self-defence,\u201d Kallas \u200bsaid on X.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the war, but Israel\u2019s right to defend itself does not justify inflicting such massive destruction. <\/p>\n

Israeli strikes killed hundreds last night, making it hard to argue that such heavy-handed actions fall within self-defence.<\/p>\n

Israeli actions are\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

French foreign minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot told France Inter radio that Lebanon had been made \u201cthe scapegoat for a government [Israel] upset because a ceasefire has been reached between the United States and Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spanish foreign minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares said in parliament: \u201cIsrael, flouting the [Iran] ceasefire \u200band in violation of international law, dropped hundreds of \u200cbombs [on Lebanon]\u201d.<\/p>\n

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani summoned Israel\u2019s ambassador on Wednesday to complain about Israeli fire on Italian peacekeepers in a UN force in south Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, the foreign minister of Austria, a staunch Israeli ally, also planned to phone Israel\u2019s foreign minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar on Thursday to seek explanations.<\/p>\n

EU foreign ministers will discuss the Middle East in Luxembourg on 21 April, with diplomats in the EU Council to consider a response to events in the run-up to the meeting.<\/p>\n

The Spanish foreign ministry told EUobserver it was a \u201cconsistent position of our government\u201d that the sanctions should go ahead.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen\u2019s proposed measures centre around suspending the EU-Israel association agreement<\/a>, costing Israel some \u20ac1bn a year in lost trade perks, which could be adopted by a qualified majority in the EU Council, bypassing vetoes by pro-Israeli diehards, the Czech Republic and Hungary.<\/p>\n

But Austria\u2019s Meinl-Reisinger said she did not want to enter a \u201cblame game\u201d on the war, while Germany\u2019s foreign minister Johann Wadephul also voiced muted criticism on Wednesday, saying only that Israel should limit its Lebanon actions to \u201cself-defence\u201d, indicating the majority would be hard to attain, even if France, Italy, and Spain were on board.<\/p>\n

Credible threat needed <\/p>\n

For his part, Marcin Konecny from the EuMEP civil society group in Brussels, said: \u201cI don\u2019t expect a QMV [qualified majority vote] in favour of suspension now, the question is if the discussion about it can be revived, creating some sort of credible threat\u201d.<\/p>\n

H.A. Hellyer from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank in London said: \u201cIf the EU is serious about wanting to \u2026 stop Israel\u2019s onslaught, suspending the association agreement is the least it can do\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Marina Miron, from King\u2019s College London, said: \u201cI\u2019m sceptical in how far the EU can deter Israel [even via sanctions] as long as the US is supporting it\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UN\u2019s human rights envoy, Volker Turk, called the Lebanon attack \u201cnothing short of horrific\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n