US sanctions West Bank settler group after Palestinian expulsion

The State Department imposed sanctions on an Israeli group that supports farmers on occupied land in the West Bank, as the Biden administration ramps up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his government’s backing of settlers.

Volunteers with the sanctioned nongovernmental organization, Hashomer Yosh, fenced off a village in the West Bank after its 250 Palestinian residents were forced to leave and prevented them from coming back, the State Department said. 

“The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and purporting to ‘guard’ the outposts” of Israelis who had already been sanctioned, the State Department said.

Wednesday’s announcement described the latest round of sanctions as being part of efforts to address “extreme levels of instability and violence” against civilians in the West Bank.

In February, President Joe Biden signed an executive order empowering the State Department to impose sanctions in such cases, and it’s since punished both Palestinian and Israeli groups. The move highlighted the balancing act Biden has tried to maintain in backing Israel over its campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip while trying to stop a rising tide of settler violence against Palestinian civilians.

Also sanctioned Wednesday was Yitzhak Levi Filant, who was described as the civilian security coordinator for a settlement in the West Bank. 

“In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” the department said.