Support is growing for Rep. Joaquin Castro’s Stop the Settlements Act, which targets Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, despite there being no Jewish presence in the latter.
As of this week, the bill has 53 co-sponsors, including high-profile figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna.
The Stop the Settlements Act, introduced on October 1, aims to halt the construction of new settlements and the expansion of existing Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank and Gaza through sanctions and a prohibition on importing goods made in these settlements and outposts.
It claims that ending settlement construction and expansion would protect Palestinians from “the dispossession of their land and help create a pathway to peace, where both Israelis and Palestinians are able to fully exercise their right to self-determination.”
Bill would prohibit the import of all goods produced or manufactured by Israeli settlements, outposts
It specifically calls for sanctions to be imposed on any individual determined to be complicit in the construction of “any Israeli settlement or outpost on or after September 30, 2026; construction or development of settlements in E1; or anyone deemed to have facilitated the transfer of Israeli civilian population into Israeli settlements or outposts on or after September 30, 2026.”
In a similar manner to sanctions imposed by the UK, Netherlands, Canada, and France, the bill would also mean prohibiting the import of all goods produced or manufactured wholly or in part in any Israeli settlements or outposts in the West Bank or Gaza.
“Under Netanyahu’s government, settlers are engaged in a violent land grab that’s ripping Palestinians from their land,” said Congressman Castro. “Democrats must face this with urgency – act now or watch the prospect of Palestinian self-determination slip away forever.”
He said the Stop the Settlements Act gives any person or company looking to take Palestinian land in the West Bank or Gaza a choice to “pursue settlements or do business with the United States.”
Legislation could lead to essentially a de facto settlement freeze, Castro says
Castro said that, if enacted, the legislation could lead to essentially a de facto settlement freeze with no new settlement construction in the West Bank, while also giving the US president the authority to “begin going after some of the most problematic and destabilizing settlements and outposts in the West Bank.”
The bill has garnered the support of left-wing anti-Israel groups such as J Street and the New Jewish Narrative.
Hadar Susskind, president and CEO of the New Jewish Narrative, said the “bill fills a crucial void” as “the Trump administration has failed to take action that would stop the Israeli government from executing its reckless agenda of land grabs and annexation.”
The continual reference to Jewish settlements or outposts in Gaza is striking, given there have been no established Israeli civilian settlements in the Gaza Strip since 2005, and no goods are produced there.
It would, therefore, appear the bill is written to prevent the construction of new settlements in the future, potentially preempting the outcome of a right-wing bloc success in the upcoming Israeli election.