Biden administration faces lawsuit over sanctions against Israeli settlers

Pro-Israel advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over sanctions issued against individuals involved in settler violence in the occupied West Bank. 

The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, are composed of two NGOs, Texans for Israel and the Israeli nonprofit, Regavim, as well as two dual US-Israeli citizens who live in the West Bank.

The defendants named in the lawsuit include the US Department of Treasury; US Department of State; Department of Homeland Security; Office of Foreign Assets Control; Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; and their department chiefs, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.

In February this year, Biden filed an executive order allowing federal agencies to impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals who attack or intimidate Palestinians and destroy or dispossess Palestinians of their property.

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