Joe Biden will sanction by decree the Israeli settlers involved in the violence in the West Bank

President Joe Biden will issue an executive order to sanction Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, four sources familiar with the matter told the AP.

An official source, who like the others asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, said the White House will make the announcement this Thursday.

Biden spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank following Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. The president promised that those responsible for the violence They will be held accountable.

Since the war broke out in Gaza, violence in the West Bank has skyrocketed. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel has hunted down suspected militants and killed more than 380 Palestinians. Most died in clashes with Israeli forces during raids or violent settler protests.

The Israeli army says it has arrested nearly 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank over the past four months.

Biden’s expected order was first reported by Politico.

The new executive order comes as Biden was scheduled to visit Michigan on Thursday to rally support from union members in a key presidential battleground state. The Democratic president addressed harsh criticism from Arab and Muslim leaders for his handling of the war with Hamas, and the shadow of the conflict has some Democrats fearing that he might have done so a major effect on the outcome of the November elections.

The State Department announced this last December would impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a series of recent attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The department has not announced any individual visa bans. But officials at the time said the bans it would affect “dozens” of settlers and their familiesand that there would be more if the violence continued.

Undercover operation in a hospital

Biden’s decision to sanction Israeli settlers comes a day after disguised Israeli soldiers and medical personnel stormed a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and killed three Palestinian militants in a stunning raid that reflected the spread of deadly violence in the territory during war. war in Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli forces fired shots inside the Ibn Sina hospital in the city of Jenin.

The ministry condemned the assault and called on the international community to put pressure on the Israeli army stop this type of operation in hospitals. A spokesperson for the center said there was no exchange of fire, suggesting a targeted killing.

The army said the militants used the hospital as a hideout. without presenting evidence. He said one of the targets of the assault had given weapons and ammunition to others for an attack, allegedly inspired by the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 that sparked the war in Gaza.

Images purportedly taken from a hospital security camera circulated on social networks, showing half a dozen undercover soldiers, most armed, dressed as women in Islamic dress or hospital staff in pajamas or white doctor’s coats. One of them wore a surgical mask and held a rifle in one hand and a folded wheelchair in the other. Officers were seen searching a man kneeling against a wall with his arms raised.