(Ottawa) Canada announced Thursday a new wave of sanctions against Israeli “extremist settlers” for “acts of violence” committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and calls for intervention by the authorities.
Ottawa targeted seven individuals and five entities “for their role in facilitating, supporting or financially contributing” to this violence, indicates a press release from Global Affairs Canada.
The United Kingdom, France, the European Union and the United States have taken similar measures in recent months.
“Deeply concerned” by this violence, Mélanie Joly, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, condemned these acts and called on “the authorities to ensure the protection of the civilian population and to hold those responsible to account.”
Among those targeted is Ben Zion Gopstein, close to far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and founder of the Jewish supremacist organization Lehava, also sanctioned by Ottawa.
The Hilltop Youth group, which sets up “wild” settlements, that is to say without official Israeli authorizations, was also named along with two of its leaders: Meir Mordechai Ettinger and Elisha Yered.
The Amana Association, which campaigns for and builds settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, is also targeted by Canada, as are two agricultural communities, “Moshes Farm” and “Zvis Farm”.
Ely Federman, accused of involvement in several attacks in the south of the West Bank, Daniella Weiss, former settler and far-right activist, but also Einan Ben-Nir Amram Tanjil and Shalom Zicherman are also on Ottawa’s blacklist.
The level of violence in the West Bank, which was already high before the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7 after an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, has only intensified since then.
According to Palestinian authorities, in this territory occupied for nearly 60 years, at least 553 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since the Gaza war broke out.
Palestinian attacks have killed at least 15 Israelis in the West Bank during the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.