US imposes sanctions on two Israeli settler West Bank outposts

The Biden administration imposed sanctions on two Israeli outposts in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the latest move against settlement activity it says is an obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Biden administration imposed sanctions on two Israeli outposts in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the latest move against settlement activity it says is an obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The U.S. Treasury Department added two entities, Moshes Farm and Zvis Farm, as well as three Israeli nationals, to its list of sanctioned entities, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's website.

Axios reported late on Wednesday, citing three U.S. officials, that the outposts would be targeted with sanctions because they were used as a base for attacks on Palestinians by settlers deemed to be extremist. The administration in February imposed sanctions on four Israeli men it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank, signalling growing U.S. displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The administration said at the time that Israel's expansion of settlements in the West Bank was inconsistent with international law, signalling a return to longstanding U.S. policy on the issue that had been reversed by the previous administration of Donald Trump. Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state. Israel has built Jewish settlements there that most countries deem illegal.

Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land. Israel has stepped up raids in the West Bank since the war began in October. United Nations' records show at least 358 people in the Palestinian territory have been killed since Oct. 7, a quarter of them children.

The death toll in Gaza has already passed 31,000 since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian authorities in Hamas-run Gaza. Israel went on the offensive after Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on that day, killing some 1,200 people, Israel says.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)