A big increase in violence on the West Bank has prompted the EU to issue sanctions on several individuals and groups that allegedly organise and finance illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory.
Under the 1993 Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank and Gaza were designated as Palestinian territories under a mixed schedule of Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions. The intention, however, was always for Palestinians to eventually gain full control of all three areas as part of a future state.
