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The Biden administration announced sanctions against three Israeli private companies and individuals involved in settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
This marks the first time the U.S. has targeted Israeli private building companies in its efforts to curb settlement expansion.
Organizations sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) include:
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller emphasized the role of these firms in the dispossession of Palestinian land, urging the Israeli government to address violence, forced displacement, and land appropriation.
https://twitter.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1858545724440355140
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller's post on X
An Israeli army vehicle blocks a road during a raid in Qabatiya, south of Jenin city in the occupied West Bank on November 5, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A member of the Israeli security forces walks past a bulldozer demolishing a house belonging to Palestinians, located in the area C, which lies under Israel's military control since 1967, in Yatta village in the southern area of the occupied West Bank, on November 6, 2024. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Journalists stand by to film as Israeli armoured vehicles deploy during an army raid in the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the north of the occupied West Bank on October 14, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Israeli settlers patrol near the fields of Palestinian farmers in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 20, 2024. - Olive harvests are central to Palestinian life and culture but have also been the site of perennial clashes between farmers and encroaching Israeli settlers for decades, with the disputes hinging on access to land. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Israeli settlers fire at Palestinians (unseen) while an Israeli soldier (L) stands by during clashes in the town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on October 13, 2022. (AFP Photo)
The sanctions also target three individuals:
Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli nongovernmental organization provides material support to the U.S.-designated outpost Meitarim Farm, and U.S.-designated individuals Yinon Levi, Neriya Ben Pazi and Zvi Bar Yosef.
After all 250 Palestinian residents of Khirbet Zanuta were forced to leave in late January, Hashomer Yosh volunteers fenced off the village to prevent the local residents from returning. The Israeli volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and purporting to “guard” the outposts of U.S.-designated individuals.
The Treasury Department allowed a grace period for financial transactions with the sanctioned companies, ending on Jan. 10, just days before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
This measure ensures existing obligations, such as debts, can be settled before sanctions fully take effect.
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