ALBAWABA - According to Axios, the Biden administration is set to slap additional sanctions on two illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank that were used as a platform for attacks by "extremist" Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The sanctions, which are scheduled to be implemented as early as Thursday, are designed to send a message that the US is punishing not only individuals but also businesses that provide logistical and financial support to attacks on Palestinians, according to Axios, citing a US official.
US officials told Axios that three Israeli settlers will face new sanctions, while the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the Axios article.
Israel has increased the intensity of its raids across the West Bank since the latest brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7th. According to United Nations data, at least 358 people have been killed in the Palestinian territories since then, with a quarter of them being children.
In February, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on four Israeli men suspected of involvement in settlement violence in the West Bank, signaling rising US frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions.
The administration also stated in February that Israel's expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank violated international law, signaling a return to long-standing US policy on the issue, which the previous administration of Donald Trump had reversed.
