SAFA- The Israeli government is set to transfer four million shekels (approximately $1.2 million) to the Ahavat Gilad organization, despite the group being internationally sanctioned over its support for violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

According to Haaretz, the organization was sanctioned last month by France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand over allegations that it financed settlement outposts linked to attacks carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The funding is part of a joint project between the Ministry of National Security, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Ahavat Gilad. The initiative is presented as an effort to "reduce violence" by establishing a network of mentors for young people living in settlement outposts across what Israeli authorities refer to as Judea and Samaria, the term they use for the occupied West Bank.

However, the decision to fund Ahavat Gilad has drawn widespread criticism because of the organization's close ties to settlement outposts and its links to military, police, and government institutions, as well as to settler groups accused of carrying out attacks against Palestinians.

Palestinian analysts say the decision to finance an organization under international sanctions reflects Israel's continued policy of providing official support and political cover for extremist settlers while strengthening the settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The funding comes as settler attacks across the occupied West Bank continue to escalate, amid growing Palestinian and international accusations that the Israeli government is providing political and security backing to violent settler groups while accelerating settlement expansion and entrenching its control over occupied land.