Showing the American Moslem voting block that the Democrats are on their side.
[IsraelTimes] Axios says move intended to send a signal that Israeli authorities need to act against entities involved in providing support for attacks on PaleostiniansThe Biden administration is expected to impose new sanctions on two illegal outposts in the West Bank that were used as a base for attacks by "extremist" settlers against Paleostinians, Axios reported Wednesday, citing three US officials.
The sanctions, expected to be imposed as soon as Thursday, are intended to send a message that the US is not only targeting individuals but also entities involved in providing logistical and financial support for attacks against Paleostinians, Axios said citing one US official.
New sanctions will also be imposed on three settlers, the US officials told Axios.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Rooters request for comment on the Axios report.
The Biden administration in February had imposed sanctions on four Israelis it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank.
Last month, a US official and a second source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that a second round of sanctions was expected.
The expected announcement of sanctions would be a further demonstration of the lack of US trust in Israeli law enforcement, which rarely succeeds in prosecuting Israeli suspects while Paleostinians are convicted of attacks against Israelis at far higher rates.
Israel faces increasing international pressure to crack down on settler violence, with both the United States and the United Kingdom recently slapping sanctions on murderous Moslem settlers alleged to have carried out attacks on Paleostinians.
The violence spiked after the October 7 massacre carried out by the Hamas
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...terror group in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 253 were taken hostage, but violence was already on the rise before then, according to watchdogs.
The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since the 1967 Six Day War, while the Paleostinian Authority has controlled parts of the territory since 1994. About 490,000 settlers live among approximately three million Paleostinians in the West Bank in settlements that are widely considered illegal under international law.
Additionally, the Biden administration said in February that Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank was inconsistent with international law, signaling a return to long-standing US policy on the issue that had been reversed by the previous administration of Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...The US announcement came hours after Israel announced a plan to advance the construction of thousands of new settlement homes in response to a terror shooting in the West Bank.
The swiftness of the US move highlighted Washington’s ever-shrinking patience with Israel’s policy in the West Bank, as the Biden administration continues to come under fire from progressives at home and many allies abroad over its broad support for Israel in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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The two sanctioned outposts are Moshe’s Farm, also known as Tirza Valley outpost, which was established in January 2021; and Zvi’s Farm, near the Halamish settlement.
The three settlers sanctioned are Moshe Sharvit, who runs the former outpost, Zvi Bar Yosef, who runs the latter outpost, and Neriya Ben Pazi, from the Rimonim Farm in the West Bank.
Bar Yosef “engaged in repeated violence and attempts to engage in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank,” the State Department says. Bar Yosef “uses the outpost as a base from which he perpetrates violence against Palestinians and prevents local Palestinian farmers from accessing and using their lands.”
Sharvit “repeatedly harassed, threatened, and attacked Palestinian civilians and Israeli human rights defenders in the vicinity of Moshe’s Farm,” according to the State Department.
“In October 2023, Sharvit issued a threat against the residents of the Palestinian village of Ein Shibli, and while armed, ordered them to leave their homes. This threat resulted in up to 100 Palestinian civilians fleeing their village in fear for their lives.”
Sharvit has been using Moshe’s Farm “as a base from which he perpetrates violence against Palestinians,” the State Department says.
Ben Pazi “has expelled Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land. In August 2023, he and other settlers attacked Palestinians near the village of Wadi as-Seeq.”