Biden authorizes sanctions over West Bank settler attacks
Under a new executive order, the State Department has imposed sanctions on four Israelis accused of violence and intimidation that forced Palestinians to flee their homes in the West Bank.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signed a new executive order paving the way for the US government to impose sanctions on Jewish settlers responsible for escalating extremist violence in the West Bank.
The State Department on Thursday unveiled a first round of designations under the new authority targeting four Israelis accused of property destruction and other violent acts that forcibly displaced Palestinians.
One of the designated Israelis led a riot in the West Bank town of Huwara last year that left one Palestinian dead as vigilante settlers indiscriminately torched and vandalized property in retaliation for the shooting deaths of two Israelis.
The department also blacklisted a settler who it said regularly led other Israelis in assaulting Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, threatening them with more violence if they did not leave their homes.
