Four sanctioned settlers named

The US State Department said in a statement that the four individuals being designated for sanctions in the first round of penalties against violent settlers are:

• David Chai Chasdai, who the US says initiated and led the rampage of the northern West Bank village of Huwara last year, during which a Palestinian was killed.
• Eitan Tanjil, who was involved in assaulting Palestinian farmers and Israeli activists by attacking them with stones and clubs, resulting in injuries that required medical treatment, according to the State Department.
• Shalom Zicherman, who assaulted Israeli activists and their vehicles in the West Bank, according to the US, blocked them on the street and attempted to break the windows of passing vehicles with activists inside.
• Yinon Levi, who Washington says regularly led groups of settlers from the Meitarim Farm outpost who assaulted Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, threatened them with additional violence if they did not leave their homes, burned their fields, and destroyed their property.

Multiple forms of corroborating evidence are required in order for an individual to be sanctioned, and they can include public reporting, court documents and intelligence, said a senior US official briefing reporters ahead of Thursday’s announcement.