European Union
Families of terror victims and the Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center are filing a lawsuit in France to confiscate Iranian funds passing through INSTEX, a mechanism established by Germany, Great Britain and France to bypass U.S. sanctions against Iran.
“We’re engaging now with a number of countries to see if we can put together a coalition that would ensure freedom of navigation both in the Straits of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab,” said chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford
E.U. spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the bloc is “extremely concerned” by the Iranian announcement and considering an emergency meeting.
Senior IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei says it’s Iran’s “duty” to capture a British vessel unless an Iranian ship detained on suspicion of E.U. sanctions violations is released.
The U.S. Secretary of State’s remarks came as German lawmakers consider outlawing the Lebanese terror group. Like the European Union, Germany only considers Hezbollah’s military wing as such.
E.U. foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said they seek to “identify possible incitement to hate and violence and non-compliance with UNESCO standards regarding peace and tolerance in education.”
The P.A. cut salaries of public employees by 50 percent to continue to fund terrorists and their families after Israel began withholding tax revenues earlier this year.
A 15 million euro donation by the E.U. will fill the funding gap that P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas recently cut in order to continue payments to Palestinian terrorist prisoners and “martyr” families.
Brussels urges a return to calm: “Only a political solution can put an end to the violence. Efforts by Egypt and the U.N. to calm the situation have the European Union’s full support.”
In a statement, the European Union denounced Israeli “plans for more than 4,600 new housing units for settlers in the occupied West Bank, including the legalization of an illegal outpost.”
“We, the leaders of the Arab countries gathered in Tunisia ... express our rejection and condemnation of the United States decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan,” said Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
“The European Union, in accordance with international law, does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories it occupied since July 1967, including the Golan Heights, and does not consider them as part of Israeli territory,” said Maya Kosyanchich, a spokeswoman for E.U. foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini.
