Belgium wants sanctions against Israel for Gaza bombings

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter has urged the Federal Government to impose sanctions against Israel as punishment for its conduct in the ongoing war in Gaza.

"It's time for sanctions against Israel," De Sutter wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday morning.

"The rain of bombs is inhumane. While war crimes are being committed in Gaza, Israel is ignoring international demands for a ceasefire. I am calling on the Federal Government to sanction Israel," she wrote.

In an accompanying press release, De Sutter also called on the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel and endorsed an import ban for goods produced in "illegal settlements" in the Occupied Territories.

The Minister also vehemently condemned Hamas, the armed group which controls the Gaza Strip, and demanded that it release the more than 200 hostages it seized during its bloody incursion into Israel on 7 October.

"[Hamas] is a terrorist organisation," De Sutter said. "Terrorism costs money and there must be sanctions on the companies and people who provide Hamas with money. We must also continue to reiterate that they must release the hostages."

De Sutter's comments come as many parties in Belgium's "Vivaldi" coalition government are reportedly warming to the idea of a boycott of Israeli goods produced in the Occupied Territories.

According to Le Soir, five of Belgium's seven coalition parties are in favour of such a boycott. These include the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), the two socialist parties (Vooruit and PS), and the two environmental parties (Ecolo and De Sutter's own Flemish Greens).

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's Flemish liberal party (Open VLD) is believed to oppose the ban, while its French-language sister party (MR) has openly criticised it.

"We don't see why we would support this measure today more than yesterday," said MR President Georges-Louis Bouchez. "This [boycott] will only aggravate the situation. We must remain calm, take a step back and not react on the spot of emotion. Especially on such sensitive topics."