Israel settler groups stepping up attacks to ignite conflict: Palestine

Israeli settler groups in the occupied West Bank are intensifying their attacks against Palestinians to ignite a broader conflict, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said today.

“Settler attacks under the protection of the [Israeli] occupation are an official policy to undermine the opportunity for a two-state solution,” said a ministry statement on attacks on the village of Burqa, northwest of the city of Nablus.

“What the world saw yesterday of the settlers’ attacks on Burqa and on other areas across the West Bank are clear evidence that these attacks are an Israeli official policy that falls under the crimes of gradually annexing the West Bank [to Israeli sovereignty],” the statement added.

The Israeli settlers’ attacks are more proof that the sanctions imposed on some settlers are insufficient, and should include the heads of other extremist settler groups, it said.

On 1 February, US President Joe Biden signed a new executive order authorizing sanctions against Israeli settlers who have been attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, blacklisting four individuals in an initial round of penalties.

Other countries are following suit.

Israeli officials have, however, called on Israeli banks not to comply with the terms of the sanctions.

READ: Spain will unilaterally sanction violent Israel settlers if EU refuses