The European Union (EU) has proposed new sanctions and tariffs to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.
EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, urged the 27 members to increase tariffs on some Israeli goods and impose sanctions on Israeli settlers, members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, as well as 10 Hamas leaders.
“We are proposing these measures not to punish Israel or Israel people, but to really try to pressure (the) Israeli government to change course and to end the human suffering in Gaza,” Kallas said at a press conference in Brussels.
“The war needs to end, the suffering must stop, and all hostages must be released.”
The sanctions would freeze any of the individuals' European passports and ban travel in the EU.
Tariffs amounting to 230 million euros (A$407 million) will be imposed on 37% of the 15.9 billion euros of Israeli goods imported into the EU if enough nations agree, according to European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič.
The commission proposed to revoke the zero-tariff preference for a select number of Israeli goods and instead fall back on the World Trade Organisation tariffs, which vary from 8% to 40% on individual goods.
"We're not proposing to suspend trade with Israel, we are proposing to suspend trade preferences," said a senior European official tasked with communicating for the European Commission but not authorised to be publicly named according to commission policy.
The commission said Israeli arms exports to the EU would remain unaffected.
The 27-country bloc is currently split over the war in Gaza, and it is unclear whether the majority will agree on the sanctions and trade measures.
This comes as Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza City and urged Palestinians to evacuate.
The Hamas-run Gaza health authority announced on Wednesday that the death toll in the Palestinian enclave topped 65,000 since the war started on 7 October 2023.
