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⚡️ Lawmakers are urging Washington to follow Britain in applying sanctions against Israeli settlements
➡️ US Democratic lawmakers have called on the Trump administration to follow the lead of the UK and eleven other Western nations in imposing sanctions and trade bans on ‘illegal Israeli settlements’ in the occupied West Bank.
🔹 Both representatives and senators condemned the expanding settlements as an ‘armed grab’ while criticising Washington’s refusal to hold Israel accountable under international law.
🔹 Europe’s coordinated move was praised as a vital step toward ending the occupation, according to a a post on social media by a group of progressive members of Congress, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, along with Representatives Joaquin Castro, Ro Khanna, Greg Casar, and Chuy Garcia.
🔹 Lawmakers highlighted that the ongoing settler violence and human rights abuses that are happening on a daily basis, with Representative Garcia specifically calling on the US government to halt its broader support for Israeli occupation and military aggression in the West Bank.
🔹 The Congressional push followed an announcement yesterday by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband which established an import ban on goods from ‘illegal settlements’ due to the ‘ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,’ prompting Israel to retaliate by ordering the closure of the British Consulate in occupied Jerusalem.
🔹 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the prospective policy shift, confirming to reporters that Washington had no intention of adopting similar restrictive measures against Israeli expansion.
