US measures target three Israeli individuals and five entities over violence in the occupied West Bank.
The United States has announced new sanctions against several Israeli settlers and affiliated groups, accusing them of being involved in acts of violence or threats of violence against civilians, confiscation of property or other actions that threaten security in the occupied West Bank.
The sanctions announced Thursday by the U.S. State Department and Treasury Department target Israeli individuals Isachar Manne, Reut Ben Haim and Aviad Shlomo Sarid, and four illegal Israeli settlements: Manne Farm, Meitarim Farm, Hamahoch Farm and Neriya's Farm.
The US also blacklisted Lehava, an umbrella group of Israeli settlers, which it described as “Israel’s largest violent extremist organisation” with more than 10,000 members.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermine Israel’s very security,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Thursday.
“We strongly encourage the Government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.”
The sanctions freeze all assets held by the targeted individuals in U.S. jurisdictions and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
Lehava was quick to criticize the U.S. designation and President Joe Biden, saying the group will not stop its actions.
“Biden’s actions will not deter us: we will continue to act fearlessly to save the daughters of Israel, to the dismay of Biden and Israel’s other enemies,” he said.
The EU had already blacklisted Lehava for asset freezes and visa bans over its attacks on Palestinians earlier this year.
The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence over the past year, particularly since Israel's war on Gaza erupted in October.
Since then, at least 553 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the territory, and 9,510 have been detained, according to Palestinian officials.
Some 3 million Palestinians live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and more than 500,000 Israelis reside in more than 100 settlements across the territory.
In early July, Israeli NGO Peace Now reported that the Israeli government had approved 5,295 new housing units in a number of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and had recognized three new settlements.
Settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, considered illegal under international law, is often cited as the main obstacle to any lasting peace agreement with the Palestinians under a two-state solution.
