Six House Democrats introduce "Stop the Settlements Act" targeting Israeli settlement expansion
The bill would impose sanctions on individuals and entities building or expanding Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank and Gaza, and ban imports of goods produced in the settlements 120 days after enactment.
Six US House Democrats will on Thursday introduce the “Stop the Settlements Act”, imposing sanctions on foreign individuals and entities involved in building or expanding Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The bill, led by Reps. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Don Beyer (VA-08), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Veronica Escobar (TX-16), would require the president to impose sanctions on those meeting its criteria — including participation in settlement construction or facilitating civilian transfers on or after 30 September 2026 — and authorise discretionary sanctions over financing, planning or maintaining settlements. A ban on importing goods produced wholly or partly in settlements and outposts would take effect 120 days after enactment, Haaretz reported (https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2026-09-30/ty-article/.premium/house-democrats-propose-slew-of-sanctions-over-israeli-settlements/000001a0-f39c-d9ab-abfd-f7bdf6900000).
The announcement lists 34 additional Democratic cosponsors, bringing total House support to 40. The bill has been endorsed by J Street, the IMEU Policy Project and New Jewish Narrative. The president could waive sanctions for up to 12 months on national security grounds, renewable once, with humanitarian exceptions.
“Democrats must face this with urgency — act now or watch the prospect of Palestinian self-determination slip away forever,” Castro said in a statement to The New York Times. It follows President Donald Trump’s January 2025 revocation of the executive order underpinning the Biden administration’s West Bank sanctions programme, and a narrower Senate bill introduced earlier in September by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Coons, Ron Wyden and Ruben Gallego targeting settlement development in E1.
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