Sanctions EU criticised for pause in response to Trump's plan

The EU has been criticised for pausing sanctions against Israel's government in response to Donald Trump's peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, as the ceasefire came under threat.

- Jennifer Rankin

After meeting EU foreign ministers on Monday, the European foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced a pause on efforts to suspend preferential trade with Israel and sanctions against people responsible for fuelling the conflict on both sides.

The context had changed since the measures were proposed last month, Kallas said. Noting "divergent views", she said: "We don't move with the measures now, but we don't take them off the table either because the situation is fragile."

Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, a former EU representative to the Palestinian territories, told the Guardian that Kallas had missed the point on legal accountability. "Sanctions are not just a measure to induce or coerce a third party to change or adjust its behaviour. Restrictive measures are part of the tools the EU has given itself to react to breaches of both European and international law," he said.

Burgsdorff co-organised a statement signed by 414 former senior diplomats and officials last week urging robust EU action "against spoilers and extremists on both sides" whose actions jeopardised "the establishment of a future Palestinian state".

The statement welcomed the Trump plan, but noted that the question of Palestinian self-determination was only "vaguely addressed".