US imposes sanctions on Israeli 'extremists' over West Bank violence
4 Min Read
Lehava is included in the blacklist, being the "largest violent extremist organization in Israel" with over 10,000 members.
-
Illegal Israeli settlers walk with batons and axes along a street as Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and shops in the town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on October 13, 2022. (AFP)
The United States on Thursday slapped fresh sanctions on Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians, in addition to financial restrictions on four West Bank settlement outposts.
The State Department also blacklisted Lehava, which it defined as the "largest violent extremist organization in Israel" with over 10,000 members.
The use of the term "extremist" reflects an attempt to draw an allegedly distinct line between Israeli settlers and "extremist settlers".
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, "We strongly encourage the government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable," detailing that while these steps remain absent, "we will continue to impose our own accountability measures."
While being fully supportive of the Israeli war on Gaza, the US has repeatedly advised Benjamin Netanyahu not to escalate violence in the West Bank, something that draws international condemnation.
Miller added that "outposts like these have been used to disrupt grazing lands, limit access to wells and launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians."
The occupation distinguishes between what it calls "wildcat outposts" (those erected without government authority) and government-approved settlements, recently approving 3 "wildcat outposts', something Peace Now called a step toward the usurpation of the West Bank.
Israeli police repeatedly clashed with settlers in the occupied West Bank while dismantling an unauthorized settler outpost last week, according to video footage reviewed by Reuters.
The video showed police using excavators to demolish makeshift structures at the outpost. Settlers attempted to block police access by sitting across a road, but officers removed them forcibly, as depicted in the video.
This is happening as "Israel" faces international pressure to restrict settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The outpost, located in a rural region, violates both Israeli and international laws.
⚡️JUST IN: Violent confrontations broke out between israeli police and israeli settlers during the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost west of Ramallah. pic.twitter.com/whRmt1y3nj
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) July 3, 2024
"Israel" issued an order in March to seize 8,000 dunams of land in the Jordan Valley, east of the occupied West Bank, with the decision signed by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israeli settlers suffocating Palestinian shepherds with land theft
In May, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank reported an increase in land theft by armed Israeli settlers who are setting up temporary shepherding outposts and refusing to leave the region.
Shepherds living in the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley face numerous issues like their sheep being confined to enclosures. At the same time, the adjacent grazing field is unavailable owing to violent settlers who have taken over the region, the Israeli daily Haaretz said.
Human rights groups have stated that Israeli settlers in shepherding outposts are armed and have employed attack dogs to intimidate Palestinians, resulting in cattle deaths and property damage. To make matters worse, the expensive cost of food deprives these shepherds of their primary source of life.
Settler intimidation has caused 18 pastoral groups to leave their homes in the Jordan Valley, according to data released by the Israeli B'Tselem back in March.
Ethnic cleansing is at an all-time high with four complete villages and another 25 lone families forced to flee the central Jordan Valley's ridge alone, all as a result of illegal Israeli settlers' unrelenting violence.
In a March report, the rights organization B'Tselem highlighted a surge in attacks, including instances where Israeli settlers in vehicles deliberately drove recklessly into Palestinian flocks and herds. B'Tselem also highlighted that Israeli occupation forces provided support to settler groups.
In one example in November, settlers broke into Jamal's sheep enclosure while he was gone and pierced 35 animals' ears, tagged them with their numbers, and informed police that the animals were stolen from them.
Jamal was imprisoned and fined nearly $4,700 and is forced to monitor his herd from a neighboring property, while his children observe their lost sheep as they roam what was once their land.
In another example, settlers erected an Israeli flag in the middle of the area, and when a shepherd tried to destroy it, settlers assaulted and battered him and his neighbors.
