WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on an Israeli settlement group on Monday accused of helping fuel violence in the West Bank, which has seen an increase in attacks on Palestinian immigrants.
The Amana settler group “is an integral part of the Israeli extremist movement and maintains relationships with various individuals sanctioned by the US government and its associates for causing violence in the West Bank,” the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
The sanctions also target an Amana subsidiary called Binyanei Bar Amana, described by the Treasury as a company that builds and sells homes in Israeli settlements and rental properties.
The sanctions bar Americans from any transactions with Amana and freeze its US-owned assets. The United Kingdom and Canada have also imposed sanctions on Amana.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since it occupied it during the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians say that these settlements have destroyed the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel views the West Bank as biblical Judea and Samaria, and settlers cite biblical ties to the land.
Settler violence had been escalating before the Gaza war broke out, and has worsened since the conflict began over a year ago.
Many countries recognize the settlements as illegal under international law, a position contested by Israel, which sees the area as a protected area. In 2019, the Trump administration abandoned America's longstanding position on illegal settlements before it was reinstated by President Joe Biden.
Last week, nearly 90 members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged Biden to impose sanctions on members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Rami Ayyub)
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