Japan sanctions four Israeli settlers in West Bank crackdown

Japan to freeze assets and press Israel to halt settlement activities completely.

Japan imposed asset-freeze sanctions on four individual Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the government's top spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Violent acts by some Israeli settlers in the West Bank have increased dramatically since last October, said Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

In this situation and taking into account the steps taken by the G7 countries and others, Japan decided to designate the four Israeli settlers involved in violent acts as targets for asset freezing, he explained.

"Japan will steadily implement these asset freezing measures and continue to strongly urge the Israeli government to completely freeze settlement activities in cooperation with the international community, including the G7," Hayashi said.

Britain, the United States and Canada have sanctioned some individual Israeli settlers in response to heightening violence in the West Bank amid Israel's war in Gaza after Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.