Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has warned that if the US imposes sanctions on ultranationalist ministers including himself, they would respond by “completely dismantling the Palestinian Authority, including all its institutions and economy”, Israeli media has reported, Al Jazeera reports.

Reports suggest the Biden administration has been considering imposing sanctions on Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in response to their policy of expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“The very act of imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens by the American administration, which has already begun, constitutes a severe violation of Israeli sovereignty,” Ben-Gvir said, according to the Jerusalem Post.

He added that the US was seeking to “impose sanctions on Israeli leaders who ‘sinned’ by demanding a more decisive war against terrorism”.