WASHINGTON — The US State Department will deny visas to Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank under a new policy unveiled Tuesday.
For nearly a year, the Biden administration has pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to prosecute extremist settlers accused of carrying out deadly violence against Palestinians and vandalizing their property. Those attacks have surged following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1200 people, mainly civilians, in southern Israel.
US officials have grown frustrated by the Israeli government’s failure to rein in settlers whose violence they say risks playing into the hands of the militants. President Joe Biden first proposed the visa bans in a Nov. 18 Washington Post op-ed, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Israeli officials of the coming restrictions during meetings in Jerusalem last week.
“In Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities,” Blinken said in a statement Tuesday.
“We will continue to seek accountability for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, regardless of the perpetrator or the victim,” he said.
The State Department is not making public the names of the dozens of Jewish settlers and some Palestinians who will receive visa bans in the coming days. Their immediate family members may also be subject to the visa restrictions, Blinken said.
The move comes as the Biden administration presses Israel to moderate its aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, where up 1.9 million people — more than 80% of the population — have fled their homes. Palestinian health officials say over 15,900 Palestinians have been killed in the war, now in its 60th day.
In the nearly two months since Hamas’ assault on Israel, the United Nations and rights groups have documented an uptick in settler attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. On Sunday, Palestinian authorities said a 38-year-old man in the northern West Bank town of Qarawat Bani Hassan was fatally shot during a clash with Israeli settlers.
At least 246 Palestinians, including 65 children, have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since Oct. 7, according to the UN’s humanitarian arm. Of that group, Israeli settlers killed eight Palestinians. Most others died at the hands of Israeli forces during search-and-arrest and other operations, the UN said.
Even before the war, this year was on track to be the deadliest in the West Bank since the United Nations began recording fatalities in 2005.
The West Bank and east Jerusalem — captured by Israel in the 1967 war — are home to some 3 million Palestinians. Along with Gaza, the territories are sought by Palestinians for a future independent state.
Since taking office last December, Netanyahu's government has accelerated settlement expansion, deemed illegal by most countries and which Palestinians say undermines their quest for statehood.
The UN says the recent settler violence and intimidation that’s forced Palestinians from their homes could amount to the forcible transfer of a population, which is illegal under international law.
US announces visa ban policy for Israel's extremist West Bank settlers
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05.12.2023
WASHINGTON — The US State Department will deny visas to Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank under a new policy unveiled Tuesday.
For nearly a year, the Biden administration has pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to prosecute extremist settlers accused of carrying out deadly violence against Palestinians and vandalizing their property. Those attacks have surged following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1200 people, mainly civilians, in southern Israel.
US officials have grown frustrated by the Israeli government’s failure to rein in settlers whose violence they say risks playing into the hands of the militants. President Joe Biden first proposed the visa bans in a Nov. 18 Washington Post op-ed, and Secretary of........
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