President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday imposing sanctions on foreign nationals who are residing in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and have allegedly committed violence against Palestinians.
Democrats in the United States have been broadly critical of the Israeli government, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for supporting the construction of settlements in the West Bank, which was deemed illegal under international law by the United Nations Security Council in 1979.
Biden’s executive order imposes a broad swath of sanctions on any person who resides in such a settlement and have committed violence against Palestinians resisting their presence, by seizing their U.S.-based property and banning them from entry into the country.