The EU clamped down on “extremist settlers” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
The European Union has imposed sanctions on “extremist settlers in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem,” the European Council announced on Friday, listing four people and two entities.
According to the statement, the Lehava entity, a “radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group,” and the Hilltop Youth, “a radical youth group whose members are known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank,” have been added to the regime EU sanctions with two leading Hilltop Youth figures, Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered.
Neria Ben Pazi, who the EU’s governing body says has been “accused of repeatedly attacking Palestinians,” and Yinon Levi, who the council says has “participated in various acts of violence against neighboring villages,” were also added to the list.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a note at X that “the EU has decided to clamp down on extremist settlers in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem due to serious human rights violations against the Palestinian people. We strongly condemn extremist settler violence: the perpetrators must be held accountable.”
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said that she “welcomed” the sanctions, adding that “the recent escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop; these settlers must be held accountable.”