EU sanctions five extremist settlers and three entities for attacks against Palestinians in West Bank

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BRUSSELS, Jul 15 () –

The European Union on Monday approved sanctions against five extremist settlers and three entities for committing “serious and systematic abuses” against the human rights of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, including physical and verbal harassment of residents and attacks on villages.

The decision is part of the global regime of sanctions on human rights that the EU applies to more than a hundred people around the world and includes the freezing of assets, the prohibition of providing them with funds or resources directly or indirectly, as well as the veto of entry into community territory.

Among those sanctioned is Moshe Sharvit, who from the Jordan Valley has committed acts of violence and threatened Palestinian residents in communities near his post; a harassment that has “intensified” since October 2023 following Hamas attacks against Israel.

Zvi Bar Yosef has also been included in the sanctions list for his unauthorized settlement and for repeatedly attacking the Palestinian villages of Jibya, Kobar and Umm Safa, causing serious injuries to some of their residents.

Another of the names sanctioned is that of the Israeli group Tzav9, founded in January of this year by violent activists and which has participated in actions such as blocking the passage of trucks carrying humanitarian aid and the destruction of food to prevent the supply of food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip.

Finally, the decision of the Twenty-Seven announced on Monday also sanctions Baruch Marzel, whom the EU accuses of “openly calling for ethnic cleansing”; as well as the leader of the extremist organization Lehava, Ben-Zion ‘Bentzi’ Gopstein, and the founder of an unauthorized outpost in the hills south of Hebron, Isaschar Manne.