The European Union has imposed sanctions on five Israeli extremist individuals and three entities for systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank,” the EU said in a statement on Monday.
This includes the “abuse of the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental integrity, the right to property, the right to private and family life, to freedom of religion or belief and the right to education,” the statement added.
Extremist Jewish settler Moshe Sharvit and his “Moshe’s Farm” in the Jordan Valley are included in the listing.
The EU said that from his farm, Sharvit “engaged in settler violence and threats towards Palestinian residents in shepherding communities close to his outpost in the West Bank.”
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His physical and verbal harassment against these communities has escalated since October 2023, the EU said.
‘Ethnic Cleansing’
Also listed were Baruch Marzel who “openly” called for “an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” said the statement, as well as Ben-Zion Gopstein, founder and leader of the extremist organization Lehava, and Isaschar Manne, founder of the unauthorized Manne Farm outpost. All three have been sanctioned by the US as well.
The EU also designated Tzav 9, “an Israeli group of violent activists founded in January 2024, regularly blocking humanitarian aid trucks delivering food, water and fuel to Gaza.”
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Tzav 9’s actions include violent protests, attacks against food trucks and the destruction of food, the statement said.
Also listed was Zvir Bar Yosef and the illegal outpost known as Zvi’s Farm in the West Bank.
The EU said Yosef “has repeatedly attacked and committed acts of violence against Palestinians from the villages of Jibya, Kaubar (Kobar), and Umm Safa, causing severe injuries to some of them.”
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‘Violent Group’
In June, the US State Department also imposed sanctions on Tvav 9 describing it as “a violent extremist Israeli group.”
Those listed under the sanctions regime are subject to an asset freeze, and the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to them or for their benefit, is prohibited. Additionally, a travel ban to the EU applies to those listed.
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Israel has occupied the West Bank, which is home to three million Palestinians, since 1967.
Estimates indicate that around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
All Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal under international law.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
