US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington believes that the Israeli government needs to pursue Israeli settlers who participate in violent activities against Palestinians.
Earlier this week, a senior US State Department official said that the Biden administration informed Israel that it is determined to impose sanctions in the near future on extremist settlers involved in acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.
The American official stated that the sanctions include refusing to issue visas to these settlers to enter the United States, indicating that the order will be implemented within the next few weeks, according to Reuters.
“Improved goal setting”
In Gaza, the United States sees an “improvement” in Israel’s definition of the scope of targets in the Strip, with the Hebrew state expanding its military operations to include areas in the south of the Strip, which is besieged in the war with Hamas.
The US State Department spokesman said: “What we told (the Israelis) is that they must take additional steps to protect civilians,” adding, “We saw a more specific request for evacuations” compared to what happened in recent weeks in the northern Gaza Strip.
He added, “So this is an improvement over what happened before,” considering that as a result, “we hope that the number of displaced people in southern Gaza will be less than in the north.”
“With regard to the results, we will closely monitor the situation,” he stressed.
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