US President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order making it possible to sanction individuals, including potentially government ministers and officials, involved in violent attacks on Palestinians, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
The US State Department and the Biden administration have been worried about a reported rise in settler attacks since October 7, and they now join a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, in directly sanctioning those involved.
According to Ravid, Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich were meant to be on the list of sanctioned individuals who are "directing, enacting, implementing and enforcing or failing to enforce policies that threaten the peace, security and stability in the West Bank" but decided to hold off for now.
Israel for its part has argued that settler violence is not on the upswing and that steps have been taken to reduce existing violence.
Maariv reporter Kalman Libeskind wrote previously that many of the reported incidents of "settler violence" tend to be two-sided conflicts where the instigating side is unclear, rather than unprovoked attacks.
