By Ritwika Mitra
As the U.S. presidential election season gains momentum with President Joe Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in polls, there seems to be a growing concern from Biden’s camp that he may be losing support among Arab-American and Muslim voters, as well as Black voters, due to his backing of Israel’s conflict against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
And a recent move by Biden to deter violence against Palestinians is generating mixed reactions from his supporters.
The president issued an executive order on Feb. 1 directed at violence in the West Bank, imposing sanctions on four Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians.
It noted the high levels of “extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction” was a threat to the stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region and that it also undermined the foreign policy objectives of the United States.
These sanctions against Israelis — the first of their kind issued by the Biden administration — will translate into the freezing of their individual assets and restricting monetary dealings with them.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 370 Palestinians, including 94 children, have been killed, and at least 198 Palestinian households comprising 1,208 people were displaced amid settler violence across the West Bank between October 2023 and January 2024.
The sanctions have targeted David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Yinon Levi, and Shalom Zickerman. According to The New York Times, the four men are between 21 and 32 years of age.
The U.S. State Department said Chasdai, 32, led a riot by setting vehicles and buildings on fire, assaulting Palestinian civilians, and causing damage to property in Huwara. This led to the death of a Palestinian civilian.
Tanjil, 21, was involved in assaulting Palestinian farmers and Israeli…
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