Trump revokes sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in West Bank

US President Donald Trump has decided to rescind an executive order by the Joe Biden administration that imposed sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

It was among 78 executive orders rescinded by Trump not long after he stepped into the Oval Office.

Executive order 14115 titled “Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security and Stability in the West Bank” targeted illegal Israeli settlers who committed “high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction.”

The order, signed by Biden on Feb. 1, 2024, said that illegal Israeli settler violence “undermines 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.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recently reported that 2024 saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the agency began keeping records nearly two decades ago.

The OCHA has reported the “highest number” of illegal Israeli settler-linked incidents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The report covers incidents “since the office began keeping records almost two decades ago,” it said in a statement.

OCHA noted that “around 1,400 such incidents – including physical assaults, arson attacks, raids on Palestinian communities and the destruction of fruit trees – have resulted in Palestinian casualties, damage to property, or both.”

“This is nearly four incidents per day,” said OCHA.

It also added that 12% of internally displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “have cited settler violence and access restrictions as the main reasons that forced them out of their homes or communities.”

“This year has also marked the second highest number of Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank since OCHA’s records began, following 2023, which was the highest,” said OCHA.

The statement further reported that more than 480 Palestinians, including children, were killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“OCHA notes that most of them were killed by Israeli forces,” it said.

› Subscribe

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

More Articles