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Washington, DC – A spokesperson for the State Department successful the United States has been questioned astir the sidesplitting of Palestinian activistic Awdah Hathaleen, allegedly astatine the hands of an Israeli settler antecedently sanctioned by the US government.
At a quality briefing connected Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce demurred erstwhile asked whether the fishy successful Hathaleen’s death, Yinon Levi, would beryllium held accountable.
“Israel has investigations that it’s implementing regarding situations of this sort,” Bruce said. “I don’t cognize the extremity effect of what that’s going to be, nor volition I remark oregon speculate connected what should happen.”
Bruce’s tense speech with reporters came 1 time aft video circulated showing Levi opening occurrence connected Hathaleen successful the colony of Umm al-Kheir successful the occupied West Bank.
The 31-year-old Palestinian activistic aboriginal died from a gunshot coiled to his chest.
Levi is among respective Israeli settlers successful the occupied West Bank who were previously sanctioned nether the erstwhile medication of US President Joe Biden for perpetrating unit against Palestinians.
But President Donald Trump reversed those sanctions successful an enforcement bid soon aft taking bureau for a 2nd word successful January. The United Kingdom and the European Union, however, support sanctions against Levi.
Hathaleen, a nonmigratory of Masafer Yatta, had helped make the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, which captured the effects of Israeli settlements, which are amerciable nether planetary law, and attacks connected Palestinians successful the West Bank.
In Tuesday’s quality briefing, Bruce appeared to suggest that Hathaleen’s shooting happened successful the “war zone” of Gaza, earlier being corrected.
Still, she maintained that the Trump medication sought to code unit wherever it occurred.
“It’s the aforesaid argument. We spot this successful the West Bank. We cognize erstwhile there’s unit successful general. We saw thing unfold successful New York City arsenic well, with a shooting successful New York City yesterday,” she said, successful an evident notation to an unrelated shooting successful a Manhattan skyscraper.
The State Department did not respond to a consequent petition from Al Jazeera astir whether the Trump medication would revisit its sanctions argumentation successful airy of the killing.
On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Levi had been placed connected location apprehension aft being charged with manslaughter and unlawful firearm use.
Illegal settlements and Trump
Hathaleen was a begetter of 3 who coordinated with respective influential advocacy and lobbying groups successful the US, and his decease has renewed scrutiny of Trump’s policies towards amerciable Israeli settlements successful occupied territories similar the West Bank.
During his archetypal term, Trump reversed a longstanding argumentation recognising specified settlements arsenic illegal. Such settlements are successful usurpation of planetary instrumentality and wide seen arsenic a means of displacing Palestinians and seizing their lands.
But Israeli settlements person continued to dispersed rapidly successful caller years and are seen arsenic a large roadblock to aboriginal bid agreements with Palestinian leaders.
Upon taking bureau earlier this year, Trump revoked galore Biden-era enforcement orders, including the sanctions against Israeli settlers. The determination reportedly came amid unit from the Israeli authorities nether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During his term, Biden had been criticised for continuing to funnel assistance to Israel amid its warfare successful Gaza, but his medication showed a willingness to instrumentality a harder enactment erstwhile it came to settlements successful the occupied West Bank.
“The concern successful the West Bank — successful peculiar precocious levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of radical and villages, and spot demolition — has reached intolerable levels,” Biden’s enforcement order, dated February 2024, said.
It added that Israeli actions successful the West Bank represent “a superior menace to the peace, security, and stableness of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region”.
Violence connected the portion of Israeli settlers and subject forces has surged since Israel’s warfare successful Gaza began connected October 7, 2023, with astatine slightest 1,000 Palestinians killed successful the West Bank.
Rights observers accidental convulsive settlers are often protected by the subject arsenic they onslaught Palestinians.
Those killed person included US citizens, astir precocious Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old nonmigratory of Florida, beaten to decease portion visiting his family’s onshore successful the colony of Sinjil.
In a uncommon connection condemning Musallet’s killing, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a vocal protagonist of Israeli settlements, called connected the state to “aggressively investigate” what helium called a “criminal and violent act”.
To date, nary 1 has been arrested oregon charged successful the killing.
In a connection pursuing Monday’s attack, J Street, a left-leaning pro-Israel lobbying group, called connected US lawmakers to enactment authorities that would codify the Biden-era sanctions against settlers similar Levi.
The radical explained that its members had “deep, idiosyncratic ties” to Hathaleen, and said they were “heartbroken and horrified” by his killing.
In a station connected the societal media level X connected Tuesday, Congress subordinate Delia Ramirez called Hathaleen’s sidesplitting “a achy reminder that our authorities and Israel proceed to alteration and condone unit successful the West Bank”.
“We indispensable reinstate the sanctions connected West Bank settlers perpetrating unit and clasp accountable each those whose utmost and escalating unit continues to rob america of our neighbors — including Trump and Netanyahu,” she wrote.
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