The Biden administration imposes sanctions on the West Bank-based Lions' Den, accusing it of threatening “peace and stability.”
Washington DC – The United States has imposed sanctions on a Palestinian group in the occupied West Bank based on a White House executive order previously used to penalize violent Israeli settlers.
The United States on Thursday attacked the Lions' Den, an armed group that emerged from Nablus in 2022 and has claimed several attacks against Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
“The United States condemns any and all acts of violence committed in the West Bank, regardless of their perpetrators, and we will use the tools at our disposal to expose and hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability there,” the State Department said. of the United States. in a sentence.
He cited several attacks attributed to Lions' Den fighters dating back to October 2022.
The sanctions block the group's assets in the United States and largely prohibit American citizens from participating in transitions with them.
The sanctions were issued under Executive Order (EO) 14115, which established a legal framework for US sanctions against individuals and entities that “undermine peace, security and stability” in the West Bank.
When President Joe Biden issued the decree in February, it was largely seen as an effort to quell settler violence against Palestinians that had escalated since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
But only a few private Israeli citizens have been sanctioned under the directive, as the Biden administration has resisted calls to penalize Israeli officials responsible for abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Earlier this week, Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen called on the Biden administration to sanction far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich under the same executive order.
“In my opinion, Smotrich should be subject to sanctions under this executive order,” Van Hollen said.
The Finance Minister has withheld taxes owed to the Palestinian Authority and in March also declared 800 hectares (1,977 acres) in the occupied West Bank as Israeli state land.
“You have this person whose stated goal is essentially for Israel to take over the entire West Bank,” Van Hollen told the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
But Washington has been reluctant to take significant action against Israel, as Biden administration officials often promise unwavering support for the US ally.
Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, D.C., said the Lions' Den is a relatively small group, but one that has grown in importance in the West Bank amid the war in Gaza.
Hanna said sanctions against the Palestinian group can be a “balancing act” against sanctions targeting settlers.
“Perhaps it is a way for the United States to show impartiality in its relations with all groups in the region,” he said.
