EU designates four settler-linked groups, three individuals over West Bank abuses

BRUSSELS, May 28, 2026 — The Council of the European Union on Thursday listed four entities and three individuals under the bloc’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, targeting what it described as extremist Israeli settlers and organizations that support them over serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank. The move implements a political agreement reached by EU foreign ministers on May 11, 2026.

Those designated are the Nachala Settlement Movement and its director Daniella Weiss, the Israeli NGO Regavim and its director Meir Deutsch, the Hashomer Yosh NGO and its president Avichai Suissa, and the Amana cooperative association of the settler movement Gush Emunim. The Council said the groups and individuals were involved in conduct including facilitating coercive acts leading to the forced displacement of Palestinians, backing violent outposts and settlements, lobbying for the demolition of Palestinian property, and supporting attacks tied to armed volunteers and guards.

The EU said Nachala encourages and facilitates coercive acts that obstruct Palestinian access to agricultural and grazing land, while Weiss plans, directs and publicly supports the movement’s actions. Regavim and Deutsch were cited for lobbying to demolish Palestinian property and for legal efforts aimed at expanding Israeli control across the West Bank, including action against an EU-funded Palestinian primary school near Bethlehem. Hashomer Yosh and Suissa were accused of providing material support and coordinating volunteers for at least 28 violent outposts and settlements, while Amana was described as having played a key role in initiating, financing and facilitating at least 30 violent outposts and settlements.

With the new listings, the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime now covers 136 natural and legal persons and 41 entities worldwide. Those listed are subject to an asset freeze, and EU persons and companies are barred from making funds or economic resources available to them, directly or indirectly. The listed individuals also face a travel ban.

The regime was established in December 2020 and is used by the EU to address serious human rights violations and abuses, including torture, slavery, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests or detentions. The European Council most recently, in conclusions dated June 26, 2025, condemned extremist settler violence and the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and invited further work on restrictive measures.