On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of State sanctioned militant Palestinian group Lions’ Den. The sanctions were imposed following reports by the Palestinian media in April 2024 that Lions’ Den fighters had attacked Israeli forces at an Israeli checkpoint in the Nablus area of the West Bank. According to the State Department, in 2022, Lions’ Den claimed responsibility for several drive-by shootings in Nablus and, in a separate attack, fired shots toward the West Bank settlement of Har Bracha. In 2022, the group also reportedly injured and killed Palestinian civilians while fighting with Palestinian Authority Security Forces in Nablus.
The sanctions were imposed pursuant to Executive Oder 14115, for engaging in actions that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank or engaging in an acts of violence that target civilians, affecting the West Bank. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated persons within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.