EU council sanctions five Israeli settlers and three entities

The European Council has approved sanctions against five Israeli individuals and three entities over serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. 

It includes Israeli settler Moshe Sharvit and his "Moshe’s Farm" in the Jordan Valley, over violence directed towards Palestinian residents and shepherds. 

Settler Zvi Bar Yosef was also named, as well as his illegal outpost "Zvi's Farm" in the West Bank, following repeated attacks against Palestinian villagers. 

Baruch Marzel, who has called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, Ben-Zion "Bentzi" Gopstein, founder and leader of far-right group Lehava, and Isaschar Manne, founder of the illegal Manne Farm outpost in Hebron, were also among those sanctioned.

In addition, the group Tzav 9, which was founded in January and regularly blocks humanitarian aid trucks due for Gaza, was also listed.

Those sanctioned will have their assets frozen within the EU, and any direct or indirect funds to them prohibited. They will also be banned from travelling in and out of the EU.