June 10 (UPI) -- A group of five foreign ministers announced jointly Tuesday that they will put punitive measures into effect for a pair of Israeli government officials for allegedly provoking violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom said through a press release that Israel's Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir "have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights."
"With today's sanctions, we are sending a clear message that the continued expansion of settlements and acts of extremist settler violence in the West Bank are unacceptable and pose serious obstacles to peace and the realization of a two-state solution," said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in a Canadian version of the release.
"We resolutely stand with the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and their right to live in peace and security, with dignity and without fear," she added.
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