BRUSSELS, Belgium, April  12, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The European Union on Friday

imposed sanctions on the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for
"widespread" sexual violence during the October 7 attacks on Israel.

The bloc said fighters from the two Palestinian groups -- already on the
EU's terrorism blacklist -- "committed widespread sexual and gender-based
violence in a systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war".

The decision to impose the sanctions was part of an agreement among EU
states that will now see the bloc blacklist violent Israeli settlers in the
West Bank.

Hamas's unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7 resulted in the
deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures, and
unleashed the war in Gaza.

The EU said that the abuses by Hamas fighters included "the rape and
subsequent murder of female minors, mutilation of corpses as well as genital
mutilation".

It also accused the assailants of the "targeted abduction of women and
girls".

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 people in Gaza,
mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry. The
ministry's updated toll on Friday included at least 89 deaths over the previous
day.