UK slaps sanctions on 4 settlers accused of violent crimes, ‘egregious abuses of human rights’

After the White House on February 1 slapped travel bans and financial penalties on four settlers suspected of perpetrating violent crimes against Palestinians, the UK follows suit, announcing sanctions on “Israeli settlers who have violently attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.”

According to the Foreign Office, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron decided to impose “financial and travel restrictions” on four Israelis.

Of the four, only Yinon Levi was included in Biden’s executive order imposing sanctions on settlers.

The UK says that Levi and Moshe Sharvit “have in recent months used physical aggression, threatened families at gunpoint, and destroyed property as part of a targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities.”

The UK order also targets Zvi Bar Yosef, who it accuses of threatening families on a picnic at gunpoint; and Ely Federman, accused of threatening shepherds south of Hebron.

According the Hakol Hayehudi site, Federman was injured fighting in Gaza, and has since returned to combat in Khan Younis.

“Today’s sanctions place restrictions on those involved in some of the most egregious abuses of human rights,” says Cameron. “We should be clear about what is happening here. Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs. This behavior is illegal and unacceptable.”

Cameron also calls for Israel to “take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through.”