The United States is planning to impose visa ban on Israeli extremist settlers who have carried out violent acts against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, reported Reuters citing an unnamed senior official of US Department of State. The report said that the visa ban will be imposed in the next few weeks. Biden administration has reportedly informed Israel about this.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when he met Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet recently, had conveyed the action US intended to take.
Violence has surged in the West Bank which is among the territories where Palestinians are seeking statehood. The violence this year has been at a more-than-15-year high. The violence surged further after outbreak of the current Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza enclave. Gaza is geographically away from the West Bank.
Watch | Israel-Hamas war: Deadly fighting resumes in Gaza as truce expires
The US has repeatedly said that the violence in the West Bank must stop. US President Joe Biden even wrote an opinion piece in Washington Post last month threatening action against perpetrators of violence.
“I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” Biden wrote in the opinion piece.
Reuters quoted State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as saying that US wants Israel to prosecute those who are committing violent acts but it is yet to see such step taken by the Israeli side.
Surge in violence
Figures with the United Nations show that daily settler attacks have more than doubled since Hamas’ October 7 attack that saw 1200 deaths on the Israeli side.
Hamas crossed border from Gaza and attacked southern Israel on October 7 killing 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. The process of hostage exchange has started and the militant group has released some of the hostage in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
After Hamas’ attack on October 7, Israel gave an unprecedented military response and carried out hundreds of air strikes on locations in Gaza enclave. Troops and tanks have launched ground attack before a brief truce that ended on Friday. The fighting between the two sides has resumed.
(With inputs from agencies)
