American President Joe Biden on Thursday, February 1, issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied territory, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals.
Those settlers were involved in acts of violence, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property, according to the order. The penalties aim to block the four from using the US financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them. US officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian authorities say some Palestinians have been killed, and rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing evacuations.
"This violence poses a grave threat to peace, security, and stability in the West Bank, Israel and the Middle East region and threatens the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
His order is a rare step against America's closest ally in the Mideast who, Biden says, has the right to defend itself. But the Democratic president has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to show greater restraint in its military operations aimed at rooting out Hamas.
The order also notes that the violence by settlers undermines US foreign policy objectives, "including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom."
Biden has spoken out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers and pledged that those those responsible for the violence will be held accountable. He said in late October that the violence by "extremist settlers" amounted to "pouring gasoline" on the already burning fires in the Middle East. "It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now," Biden said.
Israel Defense Forces stepped up raids across the West Bank after the war began. Hamas militants are present in the West Bank but largely operate underground because of Israel’s tight grip on the territory. Palestinians have accused the Israeli military of not preventing attacks by settlers or, at times, of even protecting those settlers.
Sullivan met on Wednesday at the White House with Ron Dermer, Israel's minister of strategic affairs. US officials said the Israeli government was notified in advance of the sanctions. The order will give the Treasury Department the authority to impose financial sanctions on settlers engaged in violence but is not meant to target US citizens.
A substantial number of the settlers in the West Bank hold US citizenship, and they would be prohibited under US law from transacting with the sanctioned individuals. Officials said there are no plans to penalize far-right Israeli ministers who have defended the violence by Israeli settlers and have called for the expansion of settlements.