Speaking to France's public broadcaster, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the government had been pushing for the sanctions for a year to put an end to Israel's "illegal colonisation" of the West Bank and the explosion of settler violence. "I think we will manage to adopt these sanctions in the coming days," he said. "We condemn the Israeli government's action in Gaza, in the West Bank but also in Lebanon.

And if this policy does not change, we will not be able to act as if nothing had happened," he added. While the EU has remained divided over stronger measures, sanctions against settlers has attracted support from among even close Israeli allies such as Germany and Italy. The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has hinted that Peter Magyar's election victory in Hungary could produce a breakthrough when the new government takes power in May.

"I will not speak for the new government but definitely we can look into all these policies and see if they have a new approach," she told a press conference on Monday. How Magyar's government would vote on the issue remains unclear, though the first signs that it will be less lenient with Israel emerged this week when he vowed to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he travelled to the country. Orban cut ties with the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and welcomed him to the country in defiance of international law.

This would be only the second round of EU sanctions on Israel despite its onslaught in Gaza, support for settler terrorism in the West Bank, and the unprecedented expansion of illegal settlements. Member states agreed last year to freeze the assets and impose travel bans on a handful of settlers but have failed to take stronger measures and continue to import products from settlements. Foreign ministers were this week again unable to back to a proposal to partially suspend the EU's Association Agreement with Israel due to opposition from Germany and Italy.

Unanimous approval is required to fully suspend the agreement but revoking parts of the treaty requires only a qualified majority. As things stand, either Germany or Italy would need to back the proposal for it to pass. Dozens of NGOs and hundreds of former European diplomats and officials have called for an immediate suspension of the agreement and have harshly criticised the EU for failing to respond to Israel's violations of international law.

Amnesty International blasted the EU's maintenance of trade ties with Israel as a "moral failure" that demonstrates "brazen contempt for civilian lives". Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have been among the strongest advocates for major sanctions including trade restrictions and banning it from participating in EU programmes. Other countries have taken a middle position, including France and Sweden which have refused to back a suspension of the agreement but have called for a ban on imports from Israeli settlements.

The deadlock continued despite signs that Israel's ties with its close European allies are beginning to fray. German and Italian officials have levied increasingly public criticism of its behaviour in recent days, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shelved a defence agreement with Israel.