Biden to sanction Israeli settlers in the West Bank

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Thursday targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old American citizen last month.

Biden’s order will target settlers who “directly perpetrated violence, and those who have engaged in repeated acts of intimidation property destruction, leading to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities,” according to a senior administration official.

The sanctions are focused on visa restrictions for foreign nationals, some of whom have already been prosecuted in the Israeli justice system. Sanctions do not address American citizens who may also perpetrate settler violence.

The decision was made following the death of American teenager, TawficHafeth Abdel Jabbar, who was shot and killed last month during a visit to the West Bank to learn more about his Palestinian heritage. His family says he was the victim of settler violence.

A photo taken earlier this month shows Tawfic and a friend standing on the vehicle and in the location he would later be shot in.

Abdel Jabbar’s father said his son was out for a picnic with friends when witnesses told him that the 17-year-old was shot by an Israeli settler. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at the time he was unaware of the full context but that the White House was “seriously concerned” over the teen’s death.

Over 300 Palestinians have been killed by security forces and settlers across the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, separate from the thousands who have been killed in Gaza, according to data from the United Nations.

There have been 491 recorded settler attacks against Palestinians between Oct. 7 and Jan. 31, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The State Department said in December that would be imposing a travel ban on some settlers after a spate of attacks by settlers.