EU foreign ministers discussed Commission options to restrict trade with Israeli settlements on 13 July, as Ursula von der Leyen's September 2025 proposal to suspend EU-Israel trade preferences and sanction two Israeli ministers remained blocked by member states.
An investigation drawing on EU foreign service and UN figures estimates Israeli military operations have destroyed at least €150 million of EU-funded buildings and infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023, with no compensation paid.
Meeting in Luxembourg on 15 June, EU foreign ministers once more failed to muster the unanimity needed to sanction Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Luxembourg's Xavier Bettel, among the bloc's sharpest critics of its inaction, has accused larger members of hiding behind history to excuse paralysis on Gaza.