The United States announced rare sanctions on Thursday targeting extremist Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with President Joe Biden denouncing an “intolerable” situation.
“The situation in the West Bank, particularly high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and destruction of property, has reached intolerable levels and poses a serious threat to peace, security and stability of the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and the Middle East region,” Mr. Biden wrote in a presidential decree.
“These actions undermine the objectives of the foreign policy of the United States, including that of a two-state solution” Israeli and Palestinian, and as such represent “a threat to the national security of the United States”, adds- he in this decree granting him the authority to take sanctions.
Israel’s first ally, the United States, continues to condemn the violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, urging the Israeli authorities to put an end to it and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The new American sanctions initially target four people, who will be banned from staying in the United States and their possible assets frozen, said American officials who requested anonymity.
At the beginning of December, the United States had already announced visa restrictions against extremist Israeli settlers, but these are the first financial sanctions.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government includes ardent defenders of settlement, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Force party.
The West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, has been shaken by a surge in violence since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli territory. on October 7.
According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 364 Palestinians have been killed since then by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank.
More than 2.9 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, separated from the Gaza Strip by Israeli territory.
And around 490,000 Israelis also live there, in settlements deemed illegal by international law.
