WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions against Israeli extremists involved in violence against Palestinians, targeting four settlement outposts in the West Bank with financial restrictions.
The State Department also designated Lehava as Israel’s “largest violent extremist organization,” citing its membership exceeding 10,000 members.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller urged the Israeli government to promptly hold these individuals and organizations accountable. He warned that without such actions, the US would continue to enforce its own accountability measures.
Settlement expansion has significantly risen since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, leading a hardline pro-settler coalition.
The US has repeatedly cautioned Netanyahu about escalating tensions in the West Bank, where the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority operates.
Israel differentiates between unauthorized “wildcat” outposts and officially sanctioned settlements. According to Miller, these outposts disrupt grazing lands, restrict access to wells, and have been used to launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians.
The Israeli government has recently approved three new wildcat outposts, described by the watchdog Peace Now as a further step toward West Bank “annexation.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on Thursday criticized Israel’s recent actions to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, labeling them as “detrimental to the prospects for peace.”
Last month, Israel announced plans to legalize five outposts, establish three new settlements, and appropriate large areas of land in the West Bank, where Palestinians seek to create an independent state.
The G7, consisting of the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy, denounced these developments and urged Israel to reverse its decisions.
“We reaffirm our commitment to lasting and sustainable peace … on the basis of the two-state solution,” the statement said.
Emphasizing their commitment to achieving lasting peace based on a two-state solution, the ministers stressed the importance of economic stability in the West Bank, calling on Israel to release all withheld tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority for the sake of regional security.
