Australian members of the Global Sanctions Coalition welcome today’s announcement of coordinated sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Coalition’s Australian members – including the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW), the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN), and the Jewish Council of Australia – have been calling since March 2026 for stronger measures to address settlement expansion and settler violence.
These sanctions represent an important and welcome step towards accountability.
Last week, the United Kingdom, alongside Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway, announced coordinated sanctions targeting networks that finance, enable and profit from settler violence. The Coalition said the measures recognise that settler violence does not occur in isolation, but is enabled by broader networks of support and financing.
However, Coalition members stressed that the measures announced this week must be the beginning, not the end, of Australia’s sanctions response. While the sanctions target perpetrators and enablers of settler violence, they do not yet reach many of the political leaders, institutions, companies and financial actors driving settlement expansion and de facto annexation across the occupied West Bank,
The Coalition is calling on the Australian Government to build on today’s announcement by considering further targeted sanctions against those responsible for planning, financing, facilitating and profiting from illegal settlement expansion, including projects such as E1.
The E1 expansion, connecting occupied East Jerusalem with the illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement, would permanently sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermining the territorial contiguity necessary for a viable Palestinian state.
The Coalition is also calling for formal guidance advising Australian businesses, investors and financial institutions against involvement in illegal settlements, and for investigations into Australia-based financial and charitable support linked to settlement activity.
Quotes attributable to Katie Shammas, Executive Officer, APAN
“The urgency of further action could not be clearer. Just this week, seven-month-old Palestinian infant Sam Abu Haikal was killed amid the escalating violence facing Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.”
“While these measures target some of those enabling settler violence, they do not yet reach the political leaders, institutions and organisations responsible for expanding settlements, entrenching annexation and creating the conditions in which this violence continues.”
“The international community has long recognised that settlements are illegal under international law. If governments are serious about addressing settler violence, they must also address the structures driving settlement expansion.”
“E1 remains one of the most urgent threats to a viable Palestinian state. It is not an isolated settlement project. It is a deliberate attempt to further fragment Palestine and those driving it should face sanctions.”
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