US slaps sanctions on two West Bank settler outposts, more Israelis

Washington, Mar. 15, (dpa/GNA) – In response to growing tensions in the occupied West Bank, the US government has imposed further sanctions on several extremist Israeli settlers accused of repeatedly attacking and harrassing Palestinians.

The US State Department said the three settlers in question participated in violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including expelling Palestinian shepherds.

Two settlers’ outposts in the West Bank were also sanctioned. The reasons given were that the two farms were used as a base for attacks on civilians.

As a result, possible assets of those affected will be blocked in the United States.

US citizens or people who are in the United States are not allowed to do business with those people or entities affected. In addition, those sanctioned will be banned from entering the United States.

“Today’s sanctions on Israeli individuals and entities demonstrate our commitment to peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. We will continue to utilize all tools at our disposal to prevent extremist violence against civilians in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller posted on X.

The US government has recently imposed sanctions and entry restrictions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank on several occasions.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups in southern Israel on October 7, tensions and conflicts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have also increased.

Palestinians complain about increased violence by Israeli settlers against their villages and olive groves.

Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. Today around 600,000 Israelis live there in more than 200 settlements.

In 2016, the UN Security Council called these settlements a violation of international law and called on Israel to stop all settlement activity. The Palestinians claim the areas as part of their own future state.

Elsewhere in Washington on Thursday, the influential Democratic majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, sharply criticized Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for new elections in the country.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said in a blistering speech on the Senate floor.

Schumer, who is Jewish, described himself as a staunch supporter of Israel.

He said Netanyahu had entered into a coalition with right-wing extremists and as a result was “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.”

“I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government,” Schumer continued.

He said that Netanyahu’s coalition no longer fitted Israel’s needs after October 7, and claimed that Netanyahu was standing in the way of peace – among other things by rejecting a two-state solution.

The Democrat also criticized that other obstacles to peace were the radical right in the Israeli government and society, Hamas militants in Gaza, and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

GNA