Canada sanctions ’extremist' Israeli settlers

Canada is imposing sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Global Affairs Canada announced Thursday.

The sanctions are a response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank, Global Affairs said in a news release.

Canada is sanctioning four people, the department said: David Chai Chasdai, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef and Moshe Sharvit. Global Affairs Canada said the four have engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians and their property.

The four men are among the eight people the U.S. sanctioned earlier this year. Canada's sanctions come months after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly first said the government would be imposing them.

With these measures, we are sending a clear message that acts of extremist settler violence are unacceptable and that perpetrators of such violence will face consequences, Joly said in a media statement Thursday.

• Joly says Canada will sanction some 'extremist' Israeli settlers, Hamas leaders (new window)

• ANALYSISMonths after they were promised, Ottawa still hasn't imposed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers (new window)

The United Nations has reported an escalation in settler attacks in the Palestinian territories since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers — a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region — have escalated alarmingly in recent months, the Global Affairs statement said. This has undermined the human rights of Palestinians, prospects for a two-state solution and posed significant risks to regional security.

Earlier this year, Canada sanctioned (new window) nearly a dozen people connected to Hamas's Oct 7 attack on Israel, including Hamas leaders. It was the first time Canada had imposed individual sanctions on non-state actors.

More to come ...