Australia slaps sanctions on 7 extremist settlers over attacks on Palestinians
Foreign Minister Penny Wong also says it’s blacklisting group called ‘Hilltop Youth,’ despite no such organization formally existing
Australia followed Europe and the United States on Thursday by levying financial sanctions and travel bans on Israeli settlers accused of “beatings, sexual assault and torture” of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the sanctions on seven individuals who “have been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians.”
She added: “This includes beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injury and in some cases, death.”
The seven were named in Australian media as Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef, Neria Ben Pazi, Elisha Yered, David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil and Meir Ettinger, some of whom have been subject to sanctions by other Western countries in recent months.
Australia also said it was sanctioning a group called “Hilltop Youth,” which Wong said was responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence against Palestinians.
However, no such organization is known to exist. The term hilltop youth is used to refer to young religious hardliners who attempt to set up illegal outposts throughout the West Bank and have been known to use violence against Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
Settlement expansion has increased sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the helm of a hardline pro-settler coalition.
The West Bank has seen a significant spike in violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, sparked by the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 onslaught in which 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage to the Strip.
At least 589 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the outbreak of the war on October 7, according to Palestinian authorities. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed during raids or terrorists carrying out attacks.
Over the same period, at least 23 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in attacks in the territory involving Palestinians, according to Israeli figures.
Canberra’s announcement echoes moves by the US, Britain, Canada and the European Union who have also blacklisted Israeli settlers.
“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace,” Wong added.
“We call on Israel to hold perpetrators of settler violence to account and to cease its ongoing settlement activity, which only inflames tensions and further undermines stability and prospects for a two-state solution,” Wong said.
Israel’s embassy in Australia said the country condemned violent acts against Palestinian communities.
“Israel is a state of law and will work to bring the extreme minority involved to justice,” a spokesperson said in an email.
