US sanctions Israeli NGO and citizen for supporting violent activities in West Bank

The United States has issued sanctions against an Israeli-owned Non-Governmental Organisation Hashomer Yosh and citizen Yitzhak Levi Filant for allegedly engaging and providing material support for violent activities in the occupied West Bank.

According to a statement issued Wednesday afternoon by the State Department's Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, Hashomer Yosh was found to be providing material support to US-designated outpost Meitarim Farm, and 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 residents from returning. The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and purporting to "guard" the outposts of US-designated individuals," the statement notes.

Yitzhak Levi Filant (Filant), a civilian security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank is reported to have engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority despite his role being akin to a security or law enforcement officer.

The State Department said in February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands.

The statement said extremist settler violence in the West Bank has been causing intense human suffering, undermining the prospect of peace and stability in the region.

"It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank," the statement added.

Hashomer Yosh is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii) of Executive Order (E.O.) 14115, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person blocked pursuant to E.O. 14115.

Filant is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14115 section 1(a)(i)(B)(1), for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or participating in an act of violence or threat of violence targeting civilians, affecting the West Bank.

The sanctions followed a wide-ranging operation by the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank that included three raids in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem and in a refugee camp in the Jordan Valley during which at least nine Palestinians were killed.