The US State Department sanctioned the West Bank-based Palestinian militant group Lion’s Den on Thursday over its role in a series of violent incidents in the last two years.
The group, based in the city of Nablus, is accused of being behind a number of violent attacks against Israeli settlements, as well as Israeli and Palestinian security forces, between September 2022 and April this year.
“The United States condemns any and all acts of violence committed in the West Bank, whoever the perpetrators,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The United States would, he added, “use the tools at our disposal to expose and hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability there.”
The decision to target the Palestinian group follows a series of recent US and European sanctions levied against Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The United Nations said earlier this week that at least 505 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli military, other security forces and West Bank settlers since the war in Gaza erupted nearly eight months ago.
Two dozen Israelis, including eight soldiers, have also been killed in West Bank clashes or alleged attacks by Palestinians from the territory during the same period, according to the UN.
AFP
