Washington (Quds News Network)- On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump rescinded sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The new White House website said Trump rescinded Executive Order 14115 issued on Feb. 1, 2024, which authorized the imposition of certain sanctions “on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank.”
Trump’s decision is a reversal of a major policy action by former President Joe Biden’s administration which had slapped sanctions on numerous Israeli settler individuals and entities, freezing their U.S. assets and generally barring American citizens from engaging in financial transactions with them.
Last year, the US and some of its Western allies sanctioned several violent settlers whom they describe as “extremists”.
The US sanctions on settlers landed after the Biden administration repeatedly urged the Israeli occupation government to take action to hold the settlers to account for actions that Washington believes set back hopes for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel Ganz, chairman of the main Yesha settler council who has close ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Reuters in October that he expected the sanctions to be lifted in the event of a Trump win.
That same movement’s leaders were invited to Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Ganz was in the audience at the Capital One Arena in Washington when Trump announced that he’d be returning to the White House to sign more executive orders reversing many of Biden’s policies.
His presence highlighted just how quickly Washington has shifted its stance on the issue of West Bank settlements, which the previous administration deemed “inconsistent with international law.”
Settler Rampage
Notably, Trump signed the executive order just hours after another settler rampage in West Bank villages.
Dozens of Israeli settlers, some of them armed with rifles, set fire to Palestinian-owned vehicles and properties and injured several Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Monday evening while backed by Israeli forces.
https://twitter.com/Yesh_Din/status/1881066922415997048/history
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine also expressed alarm at the “wave of renewed violence” by Israeli settlers and armed forces in the occupied West Bank.
“The UN Human Rights Office is alarmed by a wave of renewed violence perpetrated by settlers and Israeli security forces in the Occupied West Bank, coinciding with the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement,” it said in a statement.
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The OHCHR also said the violence was accompanied by reinforced restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement, including the closure of checkpoints and installation of new gates, resulting in entire communities being locked in.
