Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom will formally sanction far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, for “incitement of violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, their foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
Israel’s national security minister, Ben-Gvir, who has previously been convicted in Israel of incitement to racism and supporting a “terror” organisation, and Minister of Finance Smotrich will now face freezes on their assets and travel bans from the five countries following the announcement on Tuesday.
The pair – who live in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank – have been key proponents of the annihilation and expulsion of Palestinians, expansion of illegal settlements and annexation of Palestinian lands, in their time as ministers within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The joint statement from the five foreign ministers announcing the sanctions said that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.
“This is why we have taken action now to hold those responsible to account,” the five countries said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government has “continued to engage with the Israeli government”, but that it “does need to uphold its obligations under international law”, according to public broadcaster, the ABC.
“Some of the expansionist rhetoric that we’ve seen as well is clearly in contradiction of that from these hardline right-wing members of the Netanyahu government,” Albanese added.
United States State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called the sanctions “extremely unhelpful”.
“We remain concerned about any step that would further isolate Israel from the international community,” Bruce said.
Asked about the hostile response from the US and Israel to the sanctions, Albanese said it was “predictable, frankly”, adding that Australia had maintained a “consistent position” in its “concern about humanitarian issues in Gaza”.
‘We are determined … to continue building’
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the move was “outrageous” and his government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the “unacceptable decision”.
Smotrich, speaking at the inauguration of a new illegal Jewish settlement in Hebron, spoke of “contempt” for the UK’s move.
“Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we cannot do it again. We are determined, God willing, to continue building,” he said in a thinly veiled reference to the era of Mandate Palestine before Israel’s creation in 1948.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have regularly called for the permanent conquest of Gaza and the re-establishment of the Jewish settlements there, which Israel abandoned in 2005.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada have also threatened “concrete actions” against Israel if it continues with the renewed military offensive in Gaza and maintains aid restrictions, reiterating a commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.
In response, Netanyahu has accused them of wanting to help Hamas and being “on the wrong side of history”.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began in October 2023, has so far killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Israel has maintained a crippling siege and aid blockade on the devastated enclave, and has only allowed a US- and Israel-backed aid model to distribute some aid. Their Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been widely criticised as a model that weaponises aid and violates humanitarian principles.
Since the GHF began operating in Gaza on May 27, at least 130 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire at desperate people seeking meagre food parcels for their hungry families. More than 1,000 people have been wounded.
Israeli raids in occupied West Bank
Israeli forces have also stepped up incursions and a wide-scale crackdown on Palestinian towns and villages in the occupied West Bank, which have been ongoing for months, while also providing protection for Jewish settlers to attack Palestinians, their lands and properties.
Israeli troops carried out an hours-long raid in Nablus on Tuesday, firing live bullets and tear gas towards residents of the West Bank city, injuring at least 60 people and arresting many others.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said residents of Nablus’s Old City are “under lockdown”.
“They cannot leave their homes, they cannot have access to any services, and even paramedics are telling us they are having a very difficult time reaching those who need their assistance,” Odeh said.
Bakeries, government institutions and schools have all shut down, Odeh said.
“It is a part of a series of military assaults that the Israeli army has been conducting against cities and refugee camps across the West Bank,” she said.
