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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on a group of three extremist Israeli West Bank settlers who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians in an attempt to pressure them to leave their land.
The U.S. State Department announced sanctions and visa restrictions against settler Zvi Bar Yosef and his outpost. Currently sanctioned in the U.K., Bar Yosef is accused of acting violently against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Moshe Sharvit, a settler also already sanctioned in the U.K., allegedly attacked Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists in the vicinity of his outpost, which is also now sanctioned by the U.S.
British officials in February stated that Sharvit and another settler threatened Palestinian families at gunpoint and destroyed property as part of a “ targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities.”
Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Neriya Ben Pazi, who attacked and expelled Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land as recently as August 2023.
The U.S. sanctions block the men and their outposts from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that “there is no justification for extremist violence against civilians or forcing families from their homes, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion.”
In February, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the occupied territory.