July 12 (UPI) — The United States has again leveled sanctions targeting those fueling violence and instability in the West Bank, as the Biden administration increases its pressure on Israel to curb extremist violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The State Department said it blacklisted three Israelis and five entities “connected to acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank.”
“The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The Biden administration has sought to simmer extremist violence that has increased amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and has grown critical not only with how its waging its fight but also with its reluctance to take action in the West Bank.
Miller on Thursday urged Israel to take “immediate steps” to hold those responsible for such violence to account, while warning if they don’t, “we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.”
Among those blacklisted Thursday are Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group that was previously sanctioned by the European Union, and two leaders of U.S.-designated TZAV 9, a violent extremist organization that has been accused of blocking aid sent to Gaza.
The State Department described Lehava as “the largest violent extremist organization in Israel” at more than 10,000 members, some of who have engaged in acts of violence against Palestinians.
The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based anti-Semitism watchdog, said in a statement online Thursday that it has long called Lehava out for its racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of hate.
“We once again urge Israeli officials to take legal steps against Lehava and prevent them from further harming Israeli society and democracy,” it said.
The two leaders of TZAV 9 hit were identified as Reut Ben Haim, 37, and Aviad Shlomo Sarid, 27.
The State Department said the four other entities it hit were outposts that Miller said were controlled by sanctioned individuals “who have weaponized them as bases for violent actions to displace Palestinians.”
“Outposts like these been used to disrupt grazing lands, limit access to wells and launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians,” he said.
Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are widely regarded as illegal under international law, and greater attention has been placed on Israel’s occupation of them amid its war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Extremist settler violence in the occupied West Bank as increased since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7.
The White House has labeled such violence as a threat to peace, security and stability throughout the Middle East.
The sanctions imposed Thursday come under an executive order issued on Feb. 1 by President Joe Biden.
In December, the State Department also announced a new policy to ban entry to Israeli settlers accused of committing violence in the occupied West Back.
The Thursday sanctions, which freeze all U.S. assets in their name and bar U.S. persons from doing business with those designated, also come on the same day the Group of Seven nations condemned Israel’s recent move to legally recognize five unauthorized Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.