US Secretary of State Marco Rubio steps off Air Force One prior arrival in Hagerstown, Maryland on June 8, 2025, en route to Camp David. (AFP)
The United States has hit out at Britain and other allies over sanctions they imposed on two Israeli ministers for repeatedly “inciting violence against Palestinians.”
Under the sanctions imposed Tuesday by the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia, Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will face a travel ban and asset freezes.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five countries said Ben Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
“Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous,” the statement said.
Smotrich and Ben Gvir both live in illegal settlements in the West Bank, which Palestinians and the vast majority of the international community hold as part of a future Palestinian state
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration condemned the sanctions and urged their reversal.
He wrote on X that the sanctions "do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war.”
Rubio said that the US rejected “any notion of equivalence” between the Israeli regime and Hamas, and “we remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is."
“The United States urges the reversal of the sanctions and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also condemned the sanctions, describing them as “an incredible overreach.” He warned that Washington “would have responded appropriately.”
Although the sanctions are in relation to the occupied West Bank, the joint statement by Western allies said that “of course this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza.”
“We continue to be appalled by the immense suffering of civilians, including the denial of essential aid," the statement added.
Israel has faced mounting pressure for obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, despite growing warnings of famine and medical collapse.
