Maziar Motamedi
Al-Jazeera / July 29, 2024
Australia is the latest nation to sanction select West Bank settlers. But Israel’s land grabs and violence have only grown.
Australia has sanctioned a number of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, joining a growing number of countries to introduce penalties for illegal acts against Palestinians.
This comes days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a nonbinding opinion that all Israeli settlement activity on Palestinian land is illegal and must stop as soon as possible.
Let’s take a look at the latest and where the situation stands.
What are the Australia sanctions?
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Thursday that seven settlers and Hilltop Youth, a hardline settler group known for setting up new illegal outposts in the West Bank, have been blacklisted by the Australian government.
“The individuals sanctioned today have been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians. This includes beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injury and in some cases death. The entity sanctioned is a youth group that is responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence against Palestinian communities,” she said.
Australia called on Israel to hold perpetrators of settler violence to account and cease ongoing settlement activity while also asserting that it considers Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territory to be “illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace”.
Israel, which has been talking to Australia about this issue for months through diplomatic channels, has reacted cautiously so far, only saying through its embassy in Canberra that it “will work to bring the extreme minority involved to justice”.
What other countries have imposed sanctions?
Violence in the occupied territory has been so widespread and escalating that some of Israel’s other closest allies have also imposed sanctions – albeit on a limited scale.
In February, the administration of United States President Joe Biden blacklisted four settlers for their roles in attacking Palestinians and Israeli activists, which would mean a freeze on any potential US-based assets.
On July 11, Washington sanctioned three more Israeli settlers and four illegal outposts in addition to a violent umbrella group for settlers.
The European Union joined in several days later, approving “restrictive measures” against five people and three entities responsible for “serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank”.
The sanctions freeze assets, block provision of funds or economic resources, and impose a travel ban to the 27-nation bloc.
The United Kingdom, France, Japan and Canada have also imposed similar limited sanctions on a number of settlers and entities organizing them but have not extended the sanctions to include the politicians and government entities arming and mobilizing them.
Have they backed an end to all illegal settlements?
Israeli settlement activity and violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory have long run counter to international law, something that was only entrenched after the ICJ ruling on July 19.
The 15-judge panel of the highest United Nations court said Israel has engaged in a wide range of activities violating international law, including building and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, using the natural resources on Palestinian land and annexing Palestinian land.:35
Critics of Israel’s Western allies said they have used virtually no tools at their disposal – including wider sanctions, trade penalties or arms embargoes – to ramp up pressure on the most far-right Israeli government in history, which is declaring far more occupied territory as Israeli state land than previous administrations.
The US, Israel’s staunchest ally, in February reversed a previous policy to say Jewish settlements are “inconsistent with international law”, but it still pushed back against the ICJ opinion that said the settlements were illegal.
“We are concerned that the breadth of the court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and bring about an urgently needed just and lasting peace with two states living side by side in peace and security,” the US Department of State said.
Have the sanctions actually curbed the violence or stopped settlements?
The limited sanctions and the tame rhetoric have done nothing to deter the Israeli government or settlers, who have been attacking Palestinians and seizing land at an unprecedented rate since the start of the war on Gaza, which has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians.
Since the war started on October 7, at least 563 Palestinians also have been killed in the occupied West Bank, mostly by Israeli soldiers, according to the United Nations.
There have been at least 1,143 attacks by settlers against Palestinians in that time resulting in casualties or damage to Palestinian property, the UN said.
Israeli authorities have demolished, sealed, confiscated or forced the demolition of 1,247 Palestinian structures across the West Bank since the start of the war, of which 39 per cent (481 structures) were inhabited homes, according to UN figures. At least 2,836 people, including 1,245 children, have been displaced.
On July 2, Israel announced it is confiscating 12.7sq km (4.9sq miles) of Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley in what was the largest single seizure in more than 30 years. In all, Israel has illegally seized 23.7sq km (9.15 sq miles) of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank in 2024 — that’s more than the land it took over the past 20 years combined.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the two far-right ministers leading the charge on land seizures in the occupied West Bank and are allies of the violent settlers, have pushed back against reports that the Biden administration is considering sanctioning them.
Both officials, who are also opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza, have promised to prevent the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state. Ben-Gvir threatened last week to respond by “completely dismantling the Palestinian Authority, including all its institutions and economy” if the US imposes sanctions on Israeli government officials.
Maziar Motamedi is a Tehran-based journalist who covers Iran
