The head of Germany’s Green Party has called on Berlin to join other countries in sanctioning Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians.

Franziska Brantner, who co-leads Germany’s second-largest opposition party, accused the two ministers of “openly calling for violence against the Palestinian population and long having propagated a policy of annexation and displacement”.

“This costs human lives, displaces entire communities and poses enormous hurdles on the path to a peace process,” Ms Brantner told dpa.

Her comments came after the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway on Tuesday announced they had sanctioned Mr Ben-Givr, the security minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and Mr Smotrich, the finance minister.

Messrs Ben-Gvir and Smotrich actively support the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and condone violence by militant settlers against the Palestinian population.

Mr Smotrich recently threatened the “total destruction” of the Gaza Strip, while Mr Ben-Gvir has spoken out strongly against resuming humanitarian aid deliveries to the embattled Palestinian territory.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five countries accused Messrs Smotrich and Ben-Gvir of inciting “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

The British government said that the UK sanctions involved a travel ban as well as the freezing of assets. 

Norway also imposed a travel ban. 

(dpa/NAN)