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US imposes sanctions on Israeli NGO for supporting violence in occupied West Bank
Eli Clifton, a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft – a US-based think tank – said there is no evidence that US sanctions have deterred Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory.
But announcing such measures provides cover for the US administration’s provision of military aid to Israeli forces, and Washington’s decision to not designate certain Israeli military units as participating in human rights abuses linked to settler activity.
According to Clifton, the US wants to be seen as acting on settler violence but does not want to do anything that affects the US-Israel relationship long-term.
Belgium’s deputy PM calls for sanctions on Smotrich, Ben-Gvir
Petra De Sutter said she will offer full support for the imposition of sanctions on the far-right Israeli cabinet ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, during an upcoming meeting of the European Union’s top diplomats.
“Genocidal policies and statements should not go unpunished,” she said in a post on X. De Sutter did not provide specifics on the statements and policies.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has previously prompted outrage, including from the EU, for saying that “it might be justified and moral” to starve the two million Palestinians in Gaza as well as for calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from the coastal enclave.
National Security Minister Ben-Gvir has also drawn anger for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza and for saying that his right to move around the occupied West Bank outweighed those of the Palestinians living there.
Genocidal policies & statements should not go unpunished.
In light of tomorrow's Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers, I offer full support for imposing sanctions on Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
Settler orgs Amana & Regavim should be sanctioned as well.
— Petra De Sutter (@pdsutter) August 28, 2024
Israel announces push to prevent punitive EU measures
Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, said his government was “now working with our friends in Europe to prevent the adoption of resolutions against Israel” at the upcoming meeting of EU’s top diplomats.
“The message we are conveying is clear: in a reality where Israel is faced with the threats of Iran and its proxy terrorist organizations – the free world must stand by Israel, and not act against it,” he wrote on X.
The statement came as Belgium’s deputy prime minister called for sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers as well as Israeli settler groups. The meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers is set to take place later today in Brussels.
The EU said the UN’s Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, will join the discussion to brief the diplomats on the situation in the Palestinian enclave.
