Palestine: EU plans new measures against Israel

…As Israel strikes Houthi target in Yemen

By Nkiruka Nnorom, with agency reports

European Commission said it plans to enact new measures against Israel over its attempts to undermine the two-state solution being proposed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.

Thi scomes as Israel struck several Houthi targets in Yemen, including in the capital city of Sanaa.

Announcing the intention yesterday, the EU Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, saying that the European |Commission would put its bilateral support to Israel on hold.

“What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world. Israel’s financial suffocation of the Palestinian Authority, its E1 plan to expand a settlement in the occupied West Bank, and actions and statements by the most extremist ministers of the Israeli government which incite violence all point to a clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution.

“Israel’s actions show that it wants to undermine the vision of a viable Palestinian state. We must not let that happen.,” she said.

“Because of this, the European Commission will put its bilateral support to Israel on hold, propose sanctions on extremist ministers and on violent settlers, and propose a partial suspension of its association agreement with Israel on trade-related matters,” she added.

According to her, the Commission would also set up a Palestine Donor Group in October.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, in a statement, called von der Leyen’s speech regrettable, saying that “Europe is sending the wrong message, one that strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.”

Israel attacks Houthi targets in Yemen

Israel yesterday also struck several Houthi targets in Yemen, including in the capital city of Sanaa, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“The IDF has just struck in Sanaa and other locations across Yemen, targeting military camps manned by Houthi terrorists, including the Houthi propaganda apparatus, as part of Operation ‘Ringing Bells,’” Katz said in a statement.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israeli agression had targeted a government complex in the district of Al-Hazm in the northern Al Jawf Governorate.

The attack comes less than two weeks after Houthi Prime Minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, and other senior Houthi officials were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sanaa.

The ministers were targeted late last month during “a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activity and performance over the past year,” the group said in a statement carried on Houthi-run television.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Israel would continue to carry out strikes in Yemen, adding that the strikes were a response to Houthi attacks on Ramon Airport in southern Israel, which hit the arrivals hall on Sunday.

“We will continue to strike. Whoever strikes us, whoever attacks us, we will reach them,” he added.

The post Palestine: EU plans new measures against Israel appeared first on Vanguard News.