US hits Israeli settler group with sanctions over West Bank violence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on an Israeli settler group it accused of helping perpetrate violence in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians.

The Amana settler group “a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement and maintains ties to various persons previously sanctioned by the U.S. government and its partners for perpetrating violence in the West Bank,” the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The sanctions also target a subsidiary of Amana called Binyanei Bar Amana, described by Treasury as a company that builds and sell homes in Israeli settlements and settler outposts.

The sanctions block Americans from any transactions with Amana and freeze its U.S.-held assets. The United Kingdom and Canada have also imposed sanctions on Amana.

Israel has settled the West Bank since capturing it during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians say the settlements have undermined the prospects for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel views the West Bank as the biblical Judea and Samaria, and the settlers cite biblical ties to the land.

Settler violence had been on the rise prior to the eruption of the Gaza war, and has worsened since the conflict began over a year ago.

Most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law, a position disputed by Israel which sees the territory as a security bulwark. In 2019, the then-Trump administration abandoned the long-held U.S. position that the settlements are illegal before it was restored by President Joe Biden.

Last week, nearly 90 U.S. lawmakers urged Biden to impose sanctions on members of members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Rami Ayyub)