BRUSSELS, Friday, April 19, 2024 (WAFA) – The European Union formally approved sanctions today on several Israeli colonists over violence in the occupied West Bank.

The bloc agreed to impose travel bans and asset freezes on four colonists in the West Bank and two entities, according to an announcement in the EU’s Official Journal.

The EU put two radical organizations Lehava and the Hilltop Youth on its asset freeze and visa ban blacklist for their attacks on Palestinians.

It also included Hilltop Youth leaders Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered, along with colonists Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi.

"The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians," said an EU statement.

It said abuses included "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" and "the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank."

The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in colonist violence in the past year, particularly since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

At least 468 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces or colonists across the West Bank since the war began on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

M.N