Washington, MINA – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and expatriates welcomed Thursday the US President Joe Biden’s issuance of an executive order targeting Israeli colonists involved in acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Wafa reports.
The US President Biden issued today an executive order that targets Israeli colonists who have been involved in attacks and acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals.
The announcement comes amid increasing pressure on President Joe Biden over his unwavering support for Israel’s war of genocide on Gaza as he campaigns for re-election in November of this year.
The order authorized sanctions against those involved in acts of violence in the West Bank, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property. The penalties block them from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.
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The State Department identified the four individuals hit with sanctions as Israeli colonists who have attacked Palestinians in the past. U.S. officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the ongoing Israeli aggression.
Meantime, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that colonists’ violence “poses a grave threat to peace, security and stability in the West Bank, Israel and the Middle East region and threatens the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”
Recent attacks by Israeli colonists have resulted in the murder of several Palestinians, with several small Bedouin communities forced to evacuate their communities due to the rising violence by hardcore Israeli colonists.
“These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom,” Biden said in the order.
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“They also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”
The order gives the Treasury Department the authority to impose financial sanctions on colonists engaged in violence but is not meant to target U.S. citizens.
A substantial number of the colonists in the West Bank hold U.S. citizenship, and they would be prohibited under U.S. law from transacting with the sanctioned individuals.
Biden said in late October that the violence by extremist colonists amounted to “pouring gasoline” on the already burning fires in the Middle East. “It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said. (T/RE1/P2)
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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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