Last month, during a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers Albares said his country would unilaterally impose sanctions on ‘’extremist settlers’’ if its European Union partners fail to reach an unanimous  agreement on the issue.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the parliament on Monday that Madrid had begun a process to impose sanctions on 12 “violent settlers” in the West Bank.

The move follows sanctions by the U.S., U.K. and France on ‘’extremist Israeli settlers.’’

Albares made the announcement during his appearance before the Joint Commission for the country’s Congress of Deputies

He called for international support for the International Court of Justice’s decision, urging compliance with provisional measures and advocating for the continuation of funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Furthermore, Albares requested the EU to review its association agreement with Israel, focusing on compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law.

Last month, during a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers Albares said his country would unilaterally impose sanctions on ‘’extremist settlers’’ if its European Union partners fail to reach an unanimous  agreement on the issue.

Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Spain has taken a harder line on Israel than many other European governments.