The United States has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities it said were linked to violence against Palestinian civilians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while urging the Israeli government to take action to hold them accountable, Reuters reports.

Washington designated three Israeli individuals and five entities, including the far-right group Lehava, which opposes Jewish assimilation with non-Jews and agitates against Arabs in the name of religion and national security.

The Biden administration said Lehava’s members have engaged in repeated acts of violence against Palestinians.

The US has also imposed sanctions on four unauthorised settlement outposts in the West Bank that the State Department said were “weaponised” for violence to displace Palestinians, such as disrupting grazing lands, limiting access to water wells and launching violent attacks on neighboring Palestinians.

“The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“We strongly encourage the government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.”