The Biden administration’s new visa restrictions for “extremist settlers” in the occupied West Bank will be limited, says Ariel Gold, the executive director of the US-based Fellowship of Reconciliation.
That’s because many have US citizenship and therefore don’t need visas to enter the country, she explained.
Washington announced on Tuesday that it would be implementing a policy aimed at individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank, including through acts of violence.
“They’re targeting individuals rather than organisations. And many of these individuals belong to settler organisations that, in fact, have tax-exempt status and are registered as charity organisations in the US,” Gold told Al Jazeera.
If the Biden administration wants to stop violence against Palestinians, it should “follow through with its empty language” by forcing the Israeli military to abide by international law, she said.
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The United States on Tuesday announced new visa restrictions on “individuals involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the occupied West Bank,” acting on U.S. President Joe Biden’s criticism of attacks on Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers in the volatile region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Biden administration has “underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
“As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable. Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities.”
8 Palestinians killed by settlers
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday that since October 7, at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers. The U.N. agency said it has recorded 314 attacks by settlers that have resulted in Palestinian casualties, damage to Palestinian-owned property or both. One-third of the attacks included threats with firearms, including shootings, and in nearly half of the attacks, the settlers were accompanied or actively supported by Israeli forces.
Blinken added that the administration is pressuring both Israeli and Palestinian leadership to curb attacks by their respective extremists.
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