US suspends arms sale to Israel over settler violence in Palestinian territories

The U.S. administration of President Joe Biden has decided to suspend a deal for the sale of 20,000 M-16 rifles to Israel's Ministry of National Security amid concerns about attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to senior U.S. government officials.

The deal had already been given a greenlight by the Biden administration but was sent back for reconsideration, as the U.S. signals its desire for Israel to clamp down on attacks by violent extremist settlers in Judea and Samaria.

The agreement was meant to provide rifles for the emergency response groups that are under police authority to respond to local terror attacks.

The U.S. asked for a commitment that the weapons will not go to emergency response groups in the settlements due to reports of increasing settler violence in the past year, especially under Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.