The Japanese government has decided to freeze the assets of four Israeli settlers in the West Bank for violence against Palestinians.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s top government spokesman, announced the decision, saying the move came in the wake of a sharp increase in violence in the occupied West Bank after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.
“The problem is getting serious,” the chief cabinet secretary said at the press conference, referring to acts of violence and intimidation against the Palestinian community by radicalised settlers, including cases in which Palestinians have been forced to evacuate their homes.
Japan maintains that Israeli settlement activity violates international law and undermines the viability of the two-state solution, which envisages the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the United Kingdom and the United States, both members of the G7, have sanctioned four Israeli settlers.
