US President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday reversing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The sanctions, originally imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden in February, targeted
17 far-right Israeli settlers and 16 entities accused of violence against Palestinians. It authorised the Departments of State and Treasury to freeze their US assets, denying them access to them, and generally bans Americans from dealing with them.
The reversal comes despite the escalating violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and land seizures in the occupied territory.
Yesterday, illegal Israeli settlers launched attacks on the Palestinian villages of Al-Funduq and Jinsafut in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes, shops and vehicles, reported Wafa news agency.
Israeli settlers torch cars, homes across West Bank
Israeli settlers torch Palestinian homes, roads and cars across the occupied West Bank as Israeli occupation forces raided Palestinian properties in the area yesterday. The attacks came as the first phase of a ceasefire in the… pic.twitter.com/e6WKtAvtEH
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 20, 2025
In response, the Palestinian Authority warned today that removing the sanctions on the settlers would lead to an escalation of violence against Palestinians.
“This decision encourages settlers to commit more crimes,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, said in a statement.
He called on the new US administration to “intervene to stop these crimes and Israeli policies that will not bring peace and security to anyone.”
“Lifting sanctions on extremist settlers encourages them to commit more crimes against our people. Our efforts continue to stop settler terrorism and remove barriers,” it added
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Trump’s second term begins: Foreign policy for the American Imperium