US sanctions three Israeli West Bank settlers and their outposts for violence against Palestinians

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a group of three extremist Israeli West Bank settlers who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians in an attempt to pressure them to leave their land. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Thursday that “there is no justification for extremist violence against civilians or forcing families from their homes, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion.” Nine people and their properties have been sanctioned under the new executive order targeting West Bank settlers, according to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control database.