President Trump rescinded sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against dozens of Israelis and far-right settler groups accused of violence against Palestinians and the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property.
The move comes as Jewish extremists raid several Palestinian villages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, torching vehicles and buildings on Monday, shortly after Trump's inauguration, according to Palestinian officials and the Israeli military. It was held on.
Adding to the escalating tensions in the West Bank, the Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had launched what it called an anti-terror operation in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, a hotbed for insurgents.
Lifting sanctions was one of a long list of executive orders that Trump signed shortly after taking office. Palestinian officials strongly criticized the move, saying it was likely to incite further violence.
Hardline members of Israel's right-wing government and leaders of Jewish settlement movements in the West Bank had called for the lifting of sanctions imposed by then-President Biden under an executive order signed nearly a year ago. Some settler leaders have cultivated close ties with Trump allies over the years, including Mike Huckabee, whom Trump nominated to be the next ambassador to Jerusalem.
The lifting of sanctions comes into effect on Sunday and continues for the second straight night in the West Bank as militant settlers protest the Gaza ceasefire that brought a period of peace to the 15-month war prompted by the October War. This coincided with the period of violence. On July 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and their supporters have opposed the ceasefire, which in its first phase calls for a six-week truce and hundreds of hostages, including a total of 33 held in Gaza. It is required to be replaced weekly. Palestinian prisoners of war.
Details of the second phase of the agreement are yet to be negotiated, but it calls for a temporary ceasefire to be made permanent and for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
