US sanctions Israeli settler group over West Bank violence

The United States has imposed sanctions on an Israeli settler group Amana on Monday over violence in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians as well as annexation and dispossession.

Amana supports illegal settler outposts which are used to expand Jewish settlements and seize occupied Palestinian land, the Treasury Department said in a statement, calling the group "a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement".

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US was taking action against "three entities and three individuals for their roles in violence targeting civilians or in the destruction or dispossession of property".

"Their actions, collectively and individually, undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank and the safety of both Israelis and Palestinians" he continued.

The three sanctioned individuals are Shabtai Koshlevsky, Itamar Yehuda Levi and Zohar Sabah.

Amana was already sanctioned by the UK and Canada earlier this year, according to The Times of Israel.

The sanctions will block Americans from any transactions with Amana and will freeze its US-held assets.

The Treasury Department also said Amana maintained ties to other people targeted in previous rounds of US sanctions, including by providing loans to settlers who set up illegal farms in the West Bank, from which settlers commit violence.

"More broadly, Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land," it said.

The department highlighted that Amana previously provided a loan to Isaschar Manne, who was sanctioned before after being accused of harassing Palestinian herders in the south Hebron hills area.

The sanctions also target a subsidiary of Amana called Binyanei Bar Amana, described by the treasury as a company that builds and sells homes in Israeli settlements and settler outposts.

The Eyal Hari Yehuda construction company was also included under the sanctions, for supporting the already-sanctioned Yinon Levi.

Illegal farming outposts

Following the decision, Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, criticised the sanctions, saying the Biden administration was "interfering in an entirely domestic Israeli zoning issue".

According to Peace Now, a liberal Israeli NGO which welcomed the sanctions, Amana has assets worth around $160.4 million, and a budget of tens of millions of shekels a year.

"Amana is an anti-Israel, messianic organisation, which should be banned not only in the US but first and foremost in Israel," Peace Now said in a statement.

Last week, nearly 90 US lawmakers urged Biden to impose sanctions on Amana, as well as on two ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank. The ministers have not yet been sanctioned. 

Most countries deem Israeli settlements illegal under international law. Since Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, there has been a rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.