US, EU sanctions on settlers

US, EU sanctions on settlers

Meanwhile on Friday, the US and EU imposed more sanctions on Israeli settlers engaged in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The EU said that the European Council slapped sanctions on four “extremist” Israeli settlers and two entities over “serious human rights abuses against Palestinians”.

The EU put two “radical” organisations – Lehava and the Hilltop Youth – on its asset freeze and visa ban blacklist for their attacks on Palestinians.

It also included Hilltop Youth leaders Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered, along with settlers Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi.

It said abuses included “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and “the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank”.

Separately, the US said it was adding Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, to its own blacklist.