Settler violence in the West Bank has escalated significantly since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (French)

The British Foreign Office imposed sanctions on 4 extremist Israeli settlers, for committing acts of violence and human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry added that there have been unprecedented levels of violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank over the past year.

The sanctions impose financial restrictions and a travel ban on the four settlers.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Israel must take stronger measures and put an end to settler violence in the West Bank.

This step comes after the United States also imposed sanctions earlier this month on 4 Israelis it accused of involvement in violence in the West Bank.

On the other hand, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said in a statement that Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on 4 Israeli settlers amounted to a great moral confusion, and he wondered why it had not issued sanctions on everyone who participated in the events of last October 7, considering that the decision cooperated with the movement. Boycott BDS.

Ben Gvir added that the British decision is not based on any legal background, but rather on the data of “extremist left-wing” groups, as he described it, reaffirming his continued support for the settlers.

Who are the four settlers?

The British Foreign Office stated that those subject to freezing their assets in the United Kingdom and preventing them from obtaining a visa to travel there are:

  • Moshe Sharvit

An extremist settler threatened, harassed, and assaulted Palestinian shepherds and their families in the Jordan Valley.

In October 2023, Sharvit forced a community of Palestinians, including 20 families, to flee after he assaulted the residents and gave them five hours to leave, according to the British Foreign Office.

  • Yinon Levy

Leader of the “Metarim Farm” settlement outpost established in 2021, where settlers resorted to physical violence and destruction of property to force the displacement of Palestinian residents in October 2023.

  • Zvi Bar Yosef

A settler leader, who has used intimidation and violence since establishing the Zvi Farm outpost in 2018 against local Palestinians, including twice threatening families during their outing.

  • Eli Federman

Involved in a number of incidents of attacks on Palestinian shepherds on the hills in southern Hebron.

Violence escalates

Settler violence against Palestinians across the West Bank has escalated dramatically for months, coinciding with the Palestinian resistance’s launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the start of the devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The significant increase in settler violence in the West Bank has led to increasing pressure from some of Biden's most prominent Democratic allies to take measures to curb it.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation authorities and settlers carried out 1,593 attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, including 186 attacks carried out by settlers.

Estimates indicate that the number of settlements in the West Bank reached about 176 settlements and 186 settlement outposts at the beginning of 2023.

According to a report published by a group supporting settlement yesterday, Sunday, and based on an official population census issued by the Israeli government, the number of settlers in the West Bank reached 517,407 settlers by December 31.

The United Nations and most of the international community consider the Israeli settlement in the territories occupied in 1967 illegal, and call on Israel to stop it, but to no avail, warning that it undermines the chances of addressing the conflict in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution.

The Israeli occupation army is escalating raids and incursions into the cities and towns of the West Bank, as the death toll of Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank - including Jerusalem - has risen to 393 since the start of the devastating war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, in addition to about 4,450 wounded and 6,950 prisoners.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies