Senior Israeli security officials have advised the political leadership to impose sanctions on senior Palestinian Authority (PA) figures following recent international recognition of a Palestinian state by several UN member states, led by European countries.
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to oppose Israel’s annexation of Judea and Samaria.
The recommendations include personal sanctions on top PA officials: Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, his deputy Hussein al-Sheikh, Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub, and Abbas’s international affairs adviser Riyad al-Maliki. These measures would involve revoking their VIP travel permits granted under the Oslo Accords, limiting their ability to travel abroad and effectively confining them to Ramallah.
In addition, security officials have suggested economic sanctions targeting senior PA officials with private business interests in the West Bank and abroad, as well as restrictions on goods imported by their families. However, they warned against collective punishment of the broader Palestinian public during the Tishrei holidays, stressing this could fuel unrest and be exploited by terrorist groups for incitement and recruitment.
