The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on Israeli settler group Amana, accusing the organization of helping perpetrate violence in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians.
Amana provides support to unauthorized settler outposts that are used to expand Jewish settlements and seize Palestinian land, the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the sanctions, calling the group "a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement."
The sanctions also target a subsidiary of Amana called Binyanei Bar Amana, described by the Treasury as a company that builds and sell homes in Israeli settlements and settler outposts.
The sanctions block Americans from any transactions with Amana and freeze its U.S.-held assets. The United Kingdom and Canada have also imposed sanctions on Amana.
The Treasury Department said Amana maintained ties to other people targeted in previous rounds of U.S. sanctions, including by providing loans to settlers who set up farms in the West Bank from which settlers commit violence.
"More broadly, Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land," it said.
The latest measures taken against Israeli settlers by the Biden administration could be quickly reversed under President-elect Donald Trump, whose incoming administration is expected to be pro-settler.
Israel has settled the West Bank since capturing it during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians say the settlements have undermined the prospects for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel views the West Bank as the biblical Judea and Samaria, and the settlers cite biblical ties to the land.
Settler violence had been on the rise prior to the eruption of the Gaza war, and has worsened since the conflict began over a year ago.
Most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law, a position disputed by Israel which sees the territory as a security bulwark. In 2019, the then-Trump administration abandoned the long-held U.S. position that the settlements are illegal before it was restored by President Joe Biden.
Last week, nearly 90 U.S. lawmakers urged Biden to impose sanctions on Amana, as well as on two ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank. The ministers have not been sanctioned.
