US State Department set to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers in response to escalating West Bank attacks: Axios

The US State Department is expected to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers implicated in attacks against Palestinians, banning them from traveling to the United States, two US officials said, according to journalist Barak Ravid in an article on Axios.

This move, according to the article, reflects on the Biden administration's concerns regarding the escalating attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank after reaching "a conclusion that the current Israeli government is not seriously attempting to stop and prevent the attacks against Palestinians."

The State Department is also expected to announce travel bans on Palestinians who were involved in attacks against Israelis, US officials said, adding that this is the first time that the US will put sanctions on "extremist settlers" since the Clinton administration. 

Based on Axios, President Joe Biden had previously sent a memo to cabinet secretaries requesting them to formulate possible sanctions targeting individuals or entities directly or indirectly engaged in moves that threaten security in the West Bank or disrupt "efforts to achieve a two-state solution," a US official reported.
Last week, Israel's Ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, presented the State Department and the White House with a document containing the numbers of attacks and the steps the Israeli government took; however, "US officials told the Israeli ambassador it is still higher than it has been before October 7," mentioned journalist Barak Ravid.