Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on Sunday that Canada will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who incite violence in the West Bank and initiate new sanctions on Hamas leaders.
The West Bank had already faced the highest levels of unrest in decades before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, which began 18 months earlier. Confrontations have increased significantly since Israeli forces began their retaliatory offensive on Gaza.
On Thursday, the US sanctioned four Israeli men for allegedly participating in acts of violence in the occupied territory. Joly warned that some settlers will be sanctioned and that they will also impose new sanctions on Hamas leaders in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday.
"We're working actively on it," Joly said, speaking from Ukraine. "I'm making sure that while I'm in Ukraine, the work is being done in Ottawa and I look forward to doing an announcement soon."
On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he was planning to impose sanctions on 'extremist' West Bank settlers.
Israel has controlled the West Bank of the Jordan River since the Middle East war in 1967, and the Palestinians desire this territory to serve as the center of their own sovereign state. It has built Jewish communities that are considered illegal by most countries.
Furthermore, Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.
US Sanctions Israeli Settlers
US President Biden has approved and signed a broad executive order, saying violence in the West Bank had reached "intolerable levels."
Biden said in a letter to Congress that the situation in the West Bank, with high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction, has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a severe threat to peace, security, and stability.
The sanctions make the US financial system and all US assets and property inaccessible to individuals. According to the new executive order, the US has the power to sanction foreign nationals who assault, threaten, or seize Palestinian property.
The US administration is imposing its first-ever sanctions on Israelis. Biden visited Michigan, a large Arab-American population that has criticized his support for Israel.
The Arab American Institute, an advocacy group, reported earlier that Arab Americans' support for the Democratic Party has fallen from 59% in 2020 to only 17% after the conflict began.
A senior Biden administration official said on Thursday that the president had repeatedly discussed the issue of settlers' violence with Israel. The executive order is a step forward from the visa restrictions the US placed on some individuals last year and sets out the groundwork for how it will respond to any future attacks in the West Bank.
