President Biden on Thursday issued an executive order punishing Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, acting after critics said he hasn’t been tough enough on the settler movement that has complicated peace efforts in the midst of the raging war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The order imposes sanctions on individuals who have engaged in violence that has killed or displaced Palestinians from their land in the West Bank.
Individuals targeted under the sanctions will be blocked from obtaining a visa to enter the U.S. and prohibited from financial deals with U.S. companies and banks. Any assets being held in the U.S. will be frozen under the executive order.
A list of individuals who will be targeted by the order will be released later Thursday, administration officials said. The officials said only individuals with “credible information” that they engaged in West Bank violence would be targeted by the order.
“This is an important step to directly address the threats to U.S. national security and regional security arising from extremist violence in the West Bank and underscores the extent to which the administration takes this threat seriously,” an administration official told reporters.
Officials said the administration had notified the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Mr. Biden’s issuing the order. Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing governing coalition includes a number of figures with close ties to the Israeli settler movement.
The order comes as Mr. Biden faces increased pressure, including from fellow Democrats, to take a tougher stance against Israel as civilian casualties mount in the Gaza operation. They say Israel’s military assault on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is disproportionate to the Hamas’ terrorist rampage on Oct. 7 and has sparked a massive humanitarian crisis.
Palestinian health officials say over 26,000 people have been killed in Israel’s Gaza campaign in retaliation for the October 7 attacks, a figure that cannot be independently confirmed. Mr. Biden is increasingly heckled at public events by pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupt his speeches with chants of “Genocide Joe” and “Cease-fire now.”
The order was issued the same day Mr. Biden was traveling to Michigan, a battleground state that is home to a large population of Arab Americans who are furious with his strong support for Israel, which argued a cease-fire now would allow Hamas to re-group and re-arm and that the fighting will not stop until more than 100 hostages still in the militants’ hands are freed.
Mr. Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes in 2020, but the state has more than 242,000 Muslim voters, according to the U.S Religion Census. That could make a repeat victory in Michigan a challenge in 2024.
Although administration officials say the executive order also applies to Palestinians who engage in violence, the focus will be on far-right Israeli settlers.
For years, Israelis in the West Bank have staged attacks on the roughly 3 million Palestinians in the territory, often aiming to seize territory from them. Those attacks have sharply increased since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.