American officials said that Washington on Tuesday began imposing a ban on granting visas to Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, after several appeals to Tel Aviv to make more efforts to prevent acts of violence committed by Jewish settlers. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the measure affects dozens of settlers without announcing their names, and also affects their family members. While the restrictions do not apply to those who hold American citizenship.
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Washington decided on Tuesday to deny visas to extremist Israeli settlers Involved in the wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, calling on the Hebrew state to make more efforts to protect civilians in Gaza.
The measure is considered one of the rare, tangible reactions of the United States against Israelis since the outbreak of war about two months ago, noting that US President Joe Biden had urged his ally Israel to protect civilians, promising at the same time strong support for the Hebrew state.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement, “We stressed to the Israeli government the need to make further efforts to hold accountable the extremist settlers who committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
The US Secretary of State stated that Biden had previously repeatedly stressed that “those attacks are unacceptable.”
Blinken said the United States would deny entry to anyone involved in “undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank” or taking steps that “unjustifiably restrict civilian access to basic services and needs.”
He stressed that “the lack of stability in the West Bank harms both the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel’s national security interests. Those responsible for this must be held accountable.”
US sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in violence in the West Bank
For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the measure affects dozens of settlers without announcing their names. The visa ban also affects their family members.
The restrictions do not apply to extremist settlers who hold American citizenship.
Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians. They also kidnapped about 240 hostages and took them to Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.
Israel responded to the Hamas attack with intense bombing of the Gaza Strip, which since October 27 was accompanied by extensive ground operations inside the Strip, causing the death of 16,248 people, 70 percent of whom were women, children, and teenagers, according to the Hamas government.
The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in tensions since the outbreak of war in Gaza.
Since October 7, at least 255 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army or settler fire in various areas of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Palestinians complain of impunity in attacks and harassment committed by settlers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a coalition government that includes extreme right-wing parties that strongly support settlement in lands occupied by Israel in 1967, even though building Israeli housing units in these lands is considered illegal according to international law.
Blinken visited Israel and the West Bank last week.
The US State Department said that Israel is showing “improvement” in the targeting of its strikes in Gaza after Washington expressed concern about the widespread bombing at the beginning of the war.
“We will continue to monitor what is happening and we will continue to pressure them to do everything we can to reduce harm to civilians,” Miller said.
The United States has pledged to provide more than $100 million in aid to the Palestinians, but it faces sharp criticism in the Arab world because of its diplomatic and military support for Israel.
The American progressive lobby group J Street, which supports Israel and often criticizes Netanyahu, welcomed the visa ban and considered it an “important first step.”
She said that the Biden administration must impose a ban on two far-right ministers in the Israeli government, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The Biden administration returned to the traditional policy of opposing settlements in the United States and the world, but without taking any practical measures to put an end to it.
Former US President Donald Trump abandoned this policy, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States no longer considers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal.
France 24 / AFP
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2023-12-06 21:40:18
