US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has voiced disapproval over Israel’s proposed expansion of settlements in the West Bank, marking a significant shift in policy from the former Trump administration. The former administration had asserted that the expansion of settlements in the region did not infrort international law. The stark change in policy was outlined during a recent press conference.
Blinken was quoted saying, “On settlements, we’ve seen the reports, and I have to say we’re disappointed in the announcement. It has been a long-standing policy of both Democratic and Republican administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving enduring peace. They are also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion.”
This statement follows closely on the heels of an executive order by President Joe Biden that permits the issuance of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the west bank. As part of this order, the first round of sanctions were levied by the US Department of State against individual settlers held accountable for violent assaults on Palestinians and raids on Palestinian homes and properties.
In stark contrast, the Trump administration did not regard the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a contravention of international law. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in 2019, stated that the view of per se illegality for all settlements had not fostered peace.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has intensified scrutiny over Israel’s continued settlement and occupation of the West Bank. A report published late last year by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights held Israeli security forces accountable for the death of 291 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, including 79 children and three men with disabilities.
Additionally, in 2022, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, released a report concluding that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory might be deemed unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli Government’s de facto annexation policies. UN human rights investigators have also suggested that the continued settlements and their expansion may constitute a war crime.
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