US unveils sanctions on Israeli individuals, entities for violence in West Bank

The United States unveiled new sanctions Thursday on Israeli individuals and their entities for engaging in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The State Department said the new sanctions are “to promote accountability for individuals and entities associated with actions that undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank” and build on previous sanctions against Israelis involved in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The entities added to the list of those sanctioned were Moshes Farm and Zvis Farm, outposts the State Department said have been used as a base for violence against Palestinians.

The Israelis being sanctioned are Zvi Bar Yosef, who owns Zvis Farm; Neriya Ben Pazi, who expelled “Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land” and “attacked Palestinians near the village of Wadi as-Seeq”; and Moshe Sharvit, who “repeatedly harassed, threatened, and attacked Palestinian civilians and Israeli human rights defenders.”

The White House, in commenting on the sanctions, said settler violence threatens peace in the West Bank.

“These individuals have engaged in repeated violence against Palestinians and in some cases, Israelis, too, in the West Bank,” John Kirby, national security communications adviser, told reporters. “And as we made clear before, extremists settler violence that we’ve seen increase sharply since the attacks on the 7th of October threatens peace, security and stability of the West Bank.”

According to the State Department, the sanctions on individuals and entities are based on actions they were involved in that impact the West Bank, including “threats of violence targeting civilians, efforts to place civilians in reasonable fear of violence with the purpose or effect of necessitating a change of residence to avoid such violence, destruction of property, seizure or dispossession of property by private actors, or terrorist activity.”