Australia Imposes Sanctions on Israelis Over West Bank Violence

Seven Israelis and a youth group movement are no longer allowed to have any financial dealings with Australia. They cannot travel to the country because it blames them for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said that the sanctions are to punish these people for their actions and to pressure Israel concerning its settlements. 

 Wong further explained that settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a violation of international law and the main challenge to peace in the Middle East. The girl insisted that the Israeli government understand the significance of the country’s status and authority on the international level. 

 The individuals blessed today have been implicated in mob attacks on Palestinians involving beating, raping, and torturing them to a severe or mortal extent, Wong said. The entity sanctioned is a youth group that stirred up and began the violence against the Palestinian people. 

 Wong urged Israel to prosecute the confrontations’ culprits and stop further settlement activities that she said only fuel tensions and hinder the chances for a two-state solution. 

 An official in the Israeli embassy in Canberra replied, “Israel stands against violence against the Palestinian people. That is why Israel, the state of law, will strive to hunt and prosecute the minority who partakes in such violence. 

 The sanctions were based on the Australia Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011. The measures set out in these regulations empower the foreign affairs minister to blocklist persons or entities for financial sanctions and travel restrictions if the minister determines that they have been involved in gross violations of human rights, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture and inhuman treatment. 

Most of the people that have been banned have been banned before by the EU, the US, and Canada, among other powerful nations in the globe. The authorized group is called Hilltop Youth and is described as a religious youths’ organization aimed at constructing settlers’ settlements across the West Bank. The EU has described the group as a militant group infamous for acts of terror on Palestinians. 

 In her statement also, Wong restated Australia’s principled stand in the implementation of a sustainable and fair peace between Israelis and Palestinians. She said the Australian diplomats had talked with their counterparts in Israel on the sanctions. 

 “These sanctions are not arbitrary and have been arrived at with extreme caution and are in consistency with other fellow nations in the recent past,” Wong said to ABC Radio National. When asked about possible reactions from the Israel side, Wong continued that it was Israel’s choice to react. 

 “Settlements are prohibited by international law,” she said. “We’re going on again to consider how to defend an option for a second state.” One aspect of that is to make sure that we exact consequences on the actors that use violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. ” 

 Wong also briefly discussed the background of foreign aid to Israel and emphasized the need to preserve its status in global society. She pointed out that despite Australia’s still needing to recall its ambassador, it will continue to deal with Israel and demand a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Referring to the situation in Gaza as a cataclysm, Wong commented on the humanitarian crisis there and the recent identification of poliovirus in the wastewater. 

 “It is quite concerning that in this century we do get things like polio detected in wastewater,” as Wong contextualized the appalling situation in Gaza.