Settlers sanctioned by US behind repeated attacks on Palestinians, expelling many from their lands

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Illustrative: Israeli settlers hurl stones at Palestinians near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar in the West Bank on October 7, 2020. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90/File)
Illustrative: Israeli settlers hurl stones at Palestinians near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar in the West Bank on October 7, 2020. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90/File)

The US State Department offers information explaining the decision to sanction two Israeli illegal outposts in the West Bank and three extremist settlers.

The two sanctioned outposts are Moshe’s Farm, also known as Tirza Valley outpost, which was established in January 2021; and Zvi’s Farm, near the Halamish settlement.

The three settlers sanctioned are Moshe Sharvit, who runs the former outpost, Zvi Bar Yosef, who runs the latter outpost, and Neriya Ben Pazi, from the Rimonim Farm in the West Bank.

Bar Yosef “engaged in repeated violence and attempts to engage in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank,” the State Department says. Bar Yosef “uses the outpost as a base from which he perpetrates violence against Palestinians and prevents local Palestinian farmers from accessing and using their lands.”

Sharvit “repeatedly harassed, threatened, and attacked Palestinian civilians and Israeli human rights defenders in the vicinity of Moshe’s Farm,” according to the State Department.

“In October 2023, Sharvit issued a threat against the residents of the Palestinian village of Ein Shibli, and while armed, ordered them to leave their homes. This threat resulted in up to 100 Palestinian civilians fleeing their village in fear for their lives.”

Sharvit has been using Moshe’s Farm “as a base from which he perpetrates violence against Palestinians,” the State Department says.

Ben Pazi “has expelled Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land. In August 2023, he and other settlers attacked Palestinians near the village of Wadi as-Seeq.”

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