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Frustrated with Israel for not stopping settler violence, Biden administration bans entry to extremists
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration announced that it would ban people who have “been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank” from entering the United States — a signal of its frustration with Israel’s government for not reining in extremist Israeli settlers.
The ban, announced Tuesday in a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also applies to people who commit acts of violence or “restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities.” The immediate family members of those people may also be banned from entering the United States.
The statement, ostensibly, is aimed both at Palestinians and Israelis. “We will continue to seek accountability for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, regardless of the perpetrator or the victim,” it says.
But most of the statement focuses on President Joe Biden’s frustration with the Israeli government for ignoring his pleas to curb Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians, which has spiked since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war nearly two months ago.
“We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank,” Blinken said in the statement. “As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable. Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned settler violence and Israeli security forces have arrested and charged some Jewish extremists. But allies or sympathizers of settler extremists are members of his governing coalition, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, who praised the extrajudicial killing of a Palestinian by a settler extremist earlier this year, saying the shooter should receive a medal.
Blinken’s statement also places responsibility on the Palestinian Authority, which governs Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, for preventing Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
“We will also continue to engage the Palestinian Authority to make clear it must do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis,” the statement said. “Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have the responsibility to uphold stability in the West Bank.”
The statement comes amid increased Biden administration frustration over Israel’s prosecution of its war against Hamas, even as it continues to back Israel’s right to wage the war in the face of calls for a ceasefire from the international community and from progressive Democrats in Congress.
Israel resumed its war against Hamas last week after the terrorist group breached a temporary ceasefire during which Hamas released hostages it abducted in its Oct. 7 attack in exchange for Palestinian women and minors held for security offenses in Israeli prisons. U.S. officials urged Israel to not resume its attacks in Gaza’s south, where Hamas maintains some control, without taking additional measures to protect civilians.
In an appearance at a global conference on climate change in Dubai, Vice President Kamala Harris took Israel to task while affirming its right to defend itself from Hamas.
“No nation could possibly live with such danger, which is why we support Israel’s legitimate military objectives to eliminate the threat of Hamas,” she said.
“President Biden and I have also been clear with the Israeli government in public and in private many times: As Israel defends itself, it matters how,” Harris said. “The United States is unequivocal: International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating.”
Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, wounded thousands and abducted some 240 people on Oct. 7. An additional 82 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the invasion of Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that 15,000 people have been killed since Israel launched airstrikes and an invasion of Gaza, including thousands of children. It is not clear what portion of that number are combatants and what portion were killed by misfired rockets aimed at Israel.
Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary and one of Israel’s staunchest allies in the Biden administration, also said over the weekend that Israel risked “strategic defeat” if it did not do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
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The post Frustrated with Israel for not stopping settler violence, Biden administration bans entry to extremists appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.