Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Thursday that Israeli settlers from the West Bank would be banned from entering Belgium. This follows the US’s announcement of travel restrictions “targeting individuals and their family members involved in or meaningfully contributing to actions that undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.” This as tensions continue to rise in the West Bank as the war in Gaza stretches into over two months. 

De Croo said Belgium will work with the US on the sanctions targeting the identified individuals. Belgium Vice Prime Minister Petra De Sutter also alleged in her statement on Thursday that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has violated international law. She intends to propose that Belgium advocate for an EU-wide travel ban on the settlers.

Violence has been escalating in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7. According to a UN Human Rights Office report, there have been 132 Palestinians, including 41 children, killed in the West Bank between October 7 to November 2. 124 of those identified have been killed by Israeli forces and eight by settlers. The UN Human Rights Office noted the escalating level of settler violence and the Israeli military forces’ misuse of weapons against civilians in the region, which has caused forced displacement in the West Bank.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, nearly 1,000 Palestinians from at least 15 herding communities in the West Bank have been forced to leave their homes since October 7 due to intimidation by Israeli forces and settlers. A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) report further points out that there are “as many as 6,000 Gazans who were working in Israel before the war” now living in displacement centers across the West Bank after having their work permits canceled. According to the statistics from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), there are currently 871,000 registered refugees and 19 refugee camps in the West Bank.

The Israel Policy Forum describes settlers in the West Bank as communities “in territories acquired by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War that are not under Israeli sovereignty.” The international community, including the US, have expressed opposition to Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank. In July, the Israeli government approved plans for the expansion of West Bank settlements.