WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians in the occupied territory, imposing financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals.
Those settlers were involved in acts of violence, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property, according to the order. The penalties aim to block the four from using the US financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them. US officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian authorities say some Palestinians have been killed, and rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing evacuations.
Biden is facing growing criticism for his administration’s strong support of Israel as casualties mount in the conflict, which began when Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
His order is a rare step against America’s closest ally in the Mideast who, Biden says, has the right to defend itself. But the Democratic president has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to show greater restraint in its military operations aimed at rooting out Hamas.
Biden has spoken out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers and pledged that those responsible for the violence will be held accountable. He said in late October that the violence by “extremist settlers” amounted to “pouring gasoline” on the already burning fires in the Middle East. “It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said.
Israel Defense Forces stepped up raids across the West Bank after the war began. Hamas militants are present in the West Bank, but largely operate underground because of Israel’s tight grip on the territory. Palestinians have accused the Israeli military of not preventing attacks by settlers or, at times, of even protecting those settlers.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met on Wednesday at the White House with Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs. US officials said the Israeli government was notified in advance of the sanctions.
The order will give the Treasury Department the authority to impose financial sanctions on settlers engaged in violence, but is not meant to target US citizens. A substantial number of the settlers in the West Bank hold US citizenship, and they would be prohibited under US law from transacting with the sanctioned individuals.
US lawmakers have zeroed in on the role of Americans or dual citizens in the settler violence and intimidation. In a letter last month, Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked the White House to take action against any US citizens involved in attacks against Palestinians. He said that could include criminal charges and financial sanctions.
“There’s got to be a strong message against the extreme activities taken by some settlers on the West Bank, jeopardizing the lives of Palestinians as well as the peace in the region,” Cardin, D-Md., told reporters Thursday.
Biden’s order was first reported by Politico.
Officials said there are no plans to penalize far-right Israeli ministers who have defended the violence by Israeli settlers and have called for the expansion of settlements.
The new executive order comes as Biden was set to visit Michigan on Thursday to rally support from union members in a key presidential battleground state. The Democratic president has faced sharp criticism from Arab and Muslim leaders over his handling of the war with Hamas, and the shadow of the conflict has some Democrats worrying that it could have a major effect on the outcome in the November election.
The president’s campaign team has already seen alarming signs of the growing rift with Michigan’s Arab American community.
Last week, the president’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez traveled to suburban Detroit and found a number of community leaders unwilling to meet with her. Some frustrated by Biden’s Israel policy are working to discourage voters from supporting the president in the general election.
The State Department announced in December it would impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The department did not announce individual visa bans. But officials said at the time the bans would cover “dozens” of settlers and their families, with more to come if the violence continued.
Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank
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Biden sanctions four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank
- Settlers involved in acts of violence, as well as threats and attempts to destroy or seize Palestinian property
- Penalties aim to block four from using US financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them
Large-scale refugee returns could overwhelm Syria, UN migration agency chief warns
“We believe that millions of people returning would create conflict within an already fragile society,” said Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told a Geneva press briefing after a trip to the country. “We are not promoting large scale returns. The communities, frankly, are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced.”
Sweden will no longer fund UNRWA aid agency, minister says
- Nordic country plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year
- Sweden’s decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban
OSLO: Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.
Israel, which will ban UNRWA’s operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.
Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.
“There are several other organizations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them,” the minister said, naming the UN World Food Programme as one potential recipient.
The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency’s mandate and “enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction.”
Top US officials in Damascus to meet new Syrian rulers, State Department says
- Officials will discuss a set of principles with HTS
- They will also engage with members of civil society, activists
WASHINGTON: Top diplomats from the Biden administration are in Damascus on Friday to meet new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a State Department spokesperson said, the first in-person and official meeting between Washington and Syria’s de-facto new rulers.
The State Department’s top Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf, Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and newly appointed Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein, who is now tasked with leading the Department’s Syria engagement, are the first US diplomats to travel to Damascus since Syria’s opposition militias overthrew oppressive President Bashar Assad.
The visit comes as Western governments are gradually opening channels to HTS and its leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and start debating whether or not to remove the terrorist designation on the group. The US delegation’s travel follows contacts with France and Britain in recent days.
In their meetings, the US officials will discuss with HTS representatives a set of principles such as inclusivity and respect for the rights of minorities that Washington wants included in Syria’s political transition, the spokesperson said.
The delegation will also work to obtain new information about US journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, and other American citizens who went missing during the Assad regime.
“They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” the department spokesperson said.
“They also plan to meet with representatives of HTS to discuss transition principles endorsed by the United States and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan,” the spokesperson said.
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Syria and shut down its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
In a seismic moment for the Middle East, Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war, ending his family’s decades-long rule.
The lightning offensive raised questions over whether the rebels will be able to ensure an orderly transition.
Forces under the command of Al-Sharaa — better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani — replaced the Assad family rule with a three-month transitional government that had been ruling a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.
Washington in 2013 designated Al-Sharaa a terrorist, saying Al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. It said the Nusra Front, the predecessor of HTS, carried out suicide attacks that killed civilians and espoused a violent sectarian vision.
US President Joe Biden and his top aides described the overthrow of Assad as a historic opportunity for the Syrian people who have for decades lived under his oppressive rule, but also warned the country faced a period of risk and uncertainty.
Washington remains concerned that extremist group Daesh could seize the moment to resurrect and also wants to avoid any clashes in the country’s northeast between Turkiye-backed rebel factions and US-allied Kurdish militia.
The warm Turkish welcome for refugees is ending and Syrians are worried
- Syrian president’s ouster this month has led many in Turkiye to argue that the refugees have no reason to stay
- Some Syrians are panicking about returning to a devastated nation
GAZIANTEP, Turkiye: Turkiye gained renown as a haven for refugees by welcoming more than 3 million Syrians fleeing violence between forces from Bashar Assad ‘s government and a patchwork of rebel groups.
But the Syrian president’s ouster this month has led many in Turkiye to argue that the refugees have no reason to stay, part of the global backlash against migration. Some Syrians are panicking about returning to a devastated nation.
“There’s no work, electricity, or water. There is no leader. Who will it be? I have no idea,” said Mahmut Cabuli, who fled airstrikes by Syrian government forces and violence by rebel groups in his hometown Aleppo a decade ago. “I’m scared and don’t know what the authorities will do.”
‘My children were born here’
Cabuli spent several years in a refugee camp before he found a job at a textile factory in Gaziantep, a southern Turkish city near the Syrian border. After he met another Syrian refugee, they married and had two children.
“My children were born here,” he said. “I am working, thank God. I am happy here. I don’t want to go back now.”
Many Turks baselessly accuse Syrians of taking their jobs and straining health care and other public services. Riots have damaged Syrian-owned shops, homes or cars, including one in July in the central city of Kayseri following allegations that a Syrian refugee sexually assaulted a child. The riots sparked counterprotests in northern Syria.
Turkish authorities said that the alleged perpetrator was arrested and the victim placed under state protection.
“A spark between Syrians and Turkish citizens can immediately cause a big fire, a big flame,” said Umit Yılmaz, the mayor of Sehitkamil, which hosts 450,000 Syrians.
“The Syrians need to be reunited with their homeland immediately,” he said. “I have come to a point where I am even willing to get in my own car and take them away if necessary.”
Was staying in Turkiye temporary or for good?
In 2014, Turkish authorities gave Syrians universal access to health care, education and the right to work by granting them a legal status known as temporary protection.
As a result, Turkiye has taken in more Syrian refugees than any other nation — more than 3.8 million at its peak in 2022, or roughly 60 percent of all the Syrians logged by UN refugee agency UNHCR.
But more recently, anti-refugee sentiment has surged as Turkiye has grappled with problems including persistent inflation — particularly in food and housing — and with high youth unemployment.
“This prolonged stay under temporary protection must end,” said Azmi Mahmutoglu, spokesman for the Victory Party, a right-wing party that has opposed the presence of Syrians in Turkiye and called for their repatriation.
Hundreds of Syrians have gathered at border gates along Turkiye’s 911-kilometer (566 mile) frontier with Syria since Assad’s fall and the returns are expected to accelerate if Syria becomes stable.
Metin Corabatir, director of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration, said most of the departures so far appear to be Syrians checking the situation back in Syria before deciding whether to move their families back.
Muhammed Nur Cuneyt, a 24-year-old Syrian who arrived in 2011 from the northern town of Azaz, was eagerly waiting at one gate on Dec. 10, saying he was grateful to Turkiye for granting refuge but resented hearing anti-Syrian sentiment as his people fought Assad.
“Some were saying ‘Why are the Syrians here? Why don’t you go back and fight with your nation?’” he said.
Are they voluntary returns?
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought ways to encourage the refugees’ voluntary returns — including building housing in Syria close to the Turkish border after Syrian migration helped weaken support for his Justice and Development party.
Erdogan has four more years in office but the main opposition party has a slight lead in polls.
One refugee who returned to Syria said that he had signed a document ending his protected refugee status under Turkish law.
“Would they be allowed to come back to Turkiye? Corabatir said. “Our hope is that it will continue.”
This week, UNHCR said it does not believe that conditions to end Syrian’s refugee status have been met and it still thinks they need protection.
But for Huseyin Basut, the Turkish owner of a pet shop in Gaziantep, Turkiye has done all that it can for the Syrians.
“We did all we could as a country and as citizens,” said Bayut, 52. “Since the war is over, they should return to their homes, build their homes or whatever they need to do and may God help them.”
Lawsuit alleges US failed to evacuate Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza
- US government says rescue of Americans is top priority
- Separate suit was filed earlier this week over US support for Israel
WASHINGTON: Nine Palestinian Americans sued the US government on Thursday, alleging that it had failed to rescue them or members of their families who were trapped in Gaza where Israel’s war has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The lawsuit accuses the State Department of discriminating against Americans of Palestinian origin by abandoning them in a war zone and not making the same effort that it would to promptly evacuate and protect Americans of different origins in similar situations.
It was the second case against the US government this week after Palestinian families sued the US State Department on Tuesday over Washington’s support for Israel’s military.
A US State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on pending litigation, while adding the safety and security of American citizens around the world is a “top priority.”
Thursday’s lawsuit was announced by advocacy group Council on American Islamic Relations and attorney Maria Kari, and filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The suit alleges the plaintiffs’ right to equal protection under the US Constitution has been violated by depriving them “of the normal and typical evacuation efforts the federal government extends to Americans who are not Palestinians.”
It mentions comparable instances of the US government evacuating its citizens from conflict zones such as in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sudan and names President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as defendants.
The State Department spokesperson said the US has evacuated Americans from unsafe areas around the world, including Gaza.
Israel’s war has killed over 45,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry while also sparking accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The military assault has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and caused a hunger crisis.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
