France to sanction some extremist Israeli settlers for 'unacceptable violence'

France is to sanction certain extremist Israeli settlers, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Tuesday, denouncing "unacceptable" violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The diplomat also urged "restraint" in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.

France "has decided to take measures... against certain extremist Israeli settlers," Colonna said at a joint press conference with her British counterpart David Cameron, as she returned from a tour in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

"I was able to see for myself the violence committed by certain of these extremist settlers. It's unacceptable."

Paris had already indicated at the beginning of December that it was considering taking sanctions such as banning French territory and freezing the assets of certain settlers, and had requested that such measures be taken on a European scale.

US sanctions

The United States, for its part, took sanctions at the beginning of December against dozens of settlers who are now prohibited from entering American territory.

Settler violence has increased in intensity since the attacks perpetrated on 7 October by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Israel where 1,200 people were killed and some 250 taken hostage.

The attack triggered Israel's retaliatory campaign which the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says has so far killed more than 19,400 people, mostly women and children.

More than 290 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to Palestinian health officials.

Near-daily exchanges of fire

As part of her regional tour, Colonna on Monday urged restraint in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict started, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen cross-border fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Hamas.

Colonna met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah, calling for responsibility and restraint a day after making similar appeals in meetings with Israeli officials.

• France says 'light must be shed' on 13 October strike on journalists in Lebanon

France's top diplomat also discussed the situation on the ground with the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Aroldo Lazaro.

"We are trying to continue with our liaison and coordination role... in order to avoid miscalculations, misinterpretations that could be another trigger for escalation," Lazaro told reporters.

France, which contributes some 700 troops to the UN force in south Lebanon, has condemned recent attacks on peacekeepers and their facilities.

Since the cross-border exchanges began in October, more than 130 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, three of them journalists, according to a tally by French news agency AFP.

On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, authorities have said.

700 tonnes of aid

As concern grows over the humanitarian situation in Hamas-ruled Gaza, Colonna announced a new shipment of 700 tonnes of aid to the Palestinian territory, half of which is set to depart from the French port of Le Havre on Wednesday.

"The other half will depart next week," she told a news conference, reiterating calls for "a ceasefire... as soon as possible".

Colonna said the objective of Israel's "military operations" was "that Hamas will not be able to repeat such acts".

• Israel under pressure from allies, as Gaza descends into 'Hell on Earth'

But "we have reservations and differences in viewpoints" with Israel, she said.

"We ask them to act in a different way, in a more surgical manner".

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is struggling to speak with one voice ahead of a vote expected Tuesday on a new resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

On 8 December, despite unprecedented pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the United States blocked the adoption of a resolution calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip.

According to diplomatic sources, a new modified text is now on the table, in an attempt to get closer to a compromise.

Despite the international push for a ceasefire, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed Monday to keep arming its ally Israel, which Washington has already provided with billions of dollars in military aid.

(with newswires)