US sanctions Israeli settlers over West Bank violence

US President Joe Biden has approved sanctions on four Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reports BBC.

Biden signed a broad executive order, saying violence in the West Bank had reached "intolerable levels".

The sanctions block the individuals from accessing all US property, assets and the American financial system.

Violence in the West Bank has spiked since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October.

Some 370 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then, according to the UN. The majority of those have been killed by Israeli forces but at least eight of them have been killed by Israeli settlers, the UN said.

The new executive order means the US government has the power to sanction any foreign nationals who attack, intimidate or seize the property of Palestinians.

The sanctions are a first by the US administration - a rare step targeting Israelis - and comes as Mr Biden travels to the state of Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population that has been critical of his support for Israel.

The Arab American Institute, an advocacy group, earlier said that since the start of the conflict, support by Arab Americans for the Democratic Party has plummeted from 59% in 2020 to just 17%.

On Thursday, a senior official in the Biden administration said the president had repeatedly raised concerns with Israel about violence by settlers._Agencies.