Israeli extremist settlers engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank are to face visa bans to America.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet, told them that the United States will take action against an undisclosed number of individuals, possibly within weeks.
The West Bank, among the territories where Palestinians seek statehood, has experienced a surge of violence in recent months amid expanding Jewish settlements and a nearly decade-old impasse in US-sponsored peacemaking.
The violence, at a more-than-15-year high this year, escalated further after the Hamas terror attack on southern Israel in which more than 1,200 people were killed in an Islamic State-style slaughter on October 7 and 240 hostages were taken.
Israel has since bombed Gaza with waves of air strikes and invaded the largely besieged strip, killing more than 15,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, who are overseen by Hamas.
The United States has blamed Hamas for sparking the latest Gaza conflict but has also repeatedly expressed its concern over the rising violence in the West Bank, saying it must stop.
Joe Biden, in a November 18 Washington Post opinion piece, threatened to take action against the perpetrators.
“I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable.
"The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” the US president wrote.
A senior State Department official said Washington wants Israel to prosecute the perpetrators but has yet to see such a step.
The visa bans could come in the next few weeks, the official added.
Daily settler attacks have more than doubled, UN figures show, since October 7.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday described the collapse of the truce between Israel and Gaza as “catastrophic” and urged all parties to ensure a ceasefire be upheld.
“The resumption of hostilities in Gaza is catastrophic,” he said.
“I urge all parties and States with influence over them to redouble efforts, immediately, to ensure a ceasefire – on humanitarian and human rights grounds.”
