The Canadian government has announced sanctions on four Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank due to a surge in violence against Palestinians during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
In a press release on Thursday, Canada’s Global Affairs ministry stated that it is sanctioning Israeli settlers for the first time over what it described as “violent and destabilizing” actions against Palestinians.
“Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers – a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region – have escalated alarmingly in recent months,” the ministry noted. “This has undermined the human rights of Palestinians, prospects for a two-state solution, and posed significant risks to regional security.”
The individuals targeted by these sanctions are David Chai Chasdai, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef, and Moshe Sharvit. The ministry indicated that all four have been involved, directly or indirectly, in violence against Palestinian civilians and property.
This move by Canada comes amid growing impatience among Western countries regarding Israel’s response to settler attacks. These nations have long supported a two-state solution but have taken limited action against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
In February, the United States also announced sanctions on several Israeli settlers, including Chasdai and Levi, for attacks on Palestinians. This was seen as a potential start of a broader U.S. effort to pressure the settler movement, though the Biden administration has so far kept the sanctions limited to a few individuals.
Since the beginning of the current conflict in Gaza, there has been a significant increase in settler attacks against Palestinians, often with limited intervention from Israeli forces. Recently, a group of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian truck driver in the West Bank, mistakenly believing he was delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, only 3 percent of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have resulted in convictions, with many incidents going unreported. Palestinians view these actions as part of a broader effort to displace them and promote Jewish settlement in the occupied territories.
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