Australia imposes sanctions on Israeli settlers
Al Jazeera
The measures target seven individual settlers and hardline settler group Hilltop Youth.
Australia has imposed sanctions and travel bans on Israeli settlers it accuses of violent crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the sanctions on Thursday, directed at seven Israeli settlers and a hardline settler group known for setting up new illegal outposts.
The group, Hilltop Youth, incites and perpetrates violence against Palestinians, said Wong, while the sanctioned settlers have committed beatings, sexual assault and torture.
“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 in a statement.
The Australian government’s move follows similar actions by its allies the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Japan.
