US announces new sanctions on Israeli settlers over occupied West Bank violence

The United States on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank over violence against Palestinians, urging its ally Israel to bring greater accountability.

The sanctions were announced on the same day that Israel launched a wide-scale attack on the West Bank that it said killed nine Palestinian fighters, although the UN says two children were killed in the assault, despite warnings by President Joe Biden's administration against expanding the war in Gaza.

"Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel's security and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"It is critical that the government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank," he said.

The latest sanction targets included Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli group that has supported the unauthorized settler outpost of Meitarim Farm in the south Hebron Hills.

Volunteers from the group earlier this year fenced off a village whose 250 Palestinian residents had all been forced to leave, the State Department said.

Hashomer Yosh's website, using the biblical name for the West Bank, says the group helps "various farmers throughout Judea and Samaria, who bravely protect our lands and stand strong in the face of economic difficulties and frequent agricultural crime."

The State Department also imposed sanctions against Yitzhak Levi Filant, who was accused of leading armed settlers in setting up roadblocks and patrols with a goal of attacking Palestinians.

Since Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel and it's subsequent war on Gaza, violence has flared in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated geographically from Gaza by Israeli territory.

At least 640 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP count based on Palestinian official figures.

The United States has repeatedly voiced concern to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about settler violence and about the expansion of settlements championed by far-right members of his government.

US sanctions generally bar targets from the US financial system, leading Israeli banks to restrict dealings with sanctioned individuals for fear of repercussions.

But the Biden administration has held off on imposing sanctions on government ministers leading the settlement policy.