The UK Designates Five West Bank Settler Figures and Hizballah's Lender Al-Qard Al-Hasan
At 12:34 UTC today the United Kingdom added six names to the UK Sanctions List: Ben-Zion Gopstein, Meir Mordechai Ettinger, Eliav Libi, Baruch Marzel and Avichai Suissa under the Global Human Rights regime, each with an asset freeze, travel ban and director disqualification, for facilitating, inciting or supporting violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank; and Al-Qard Al-Hasan, the Beirut lender the UK records as Hizballah's financial arm, under the Counter-Terrorism (International) regime. The action landed after this morning's capture, so the edition was re-acquired. Six designations, no removals, no amendments. The five Global Human Rights designations share one statement of reasons in substance. For Ben-Zion Gopstein, Meir Mordechai Ettinger and Baruch Marzel the Secretary of State finds reasonable grounds to suspect that each has facilitated, incited, promoted and provided support for violence against Palestinian individuals, Ettinger's entry adding "in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories"; for Eliav Libi the finding is involvement in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. Each is framed as a serious abuse of the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
This issue
- New designations
- 6
- Removals
- 0
- Entries amended
- 0
- Sources monitored
- 85
Five Settler Figures Lose Access to the UK; Al-Qard Al-Hasan Is Frozen Under British Law
The five Global Human Rights designations share one statement of reasons in substance. For Ben-Zion Gopstein, Meir Mordechai Ettinger and Baruch Marzel the Secretary of State finds reasonable grounds to suspect that each has facilitated, incited, promoted and provided support for violence against Palestinian individuals, Ettinger's entry adding "in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories"; for Eliav Libi the finding is involvement in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. Each is framed as a serious abuse of the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The list publishes dates of birth for Gopstein (10 September 1969), Marzel (23 April 1959, born in Boston) and Suissa (1 July 1986), dual Israeli and United States nationality for Gopstein and Marzel, Hebrew-script names for all five, and West Bank addresses for Ettinger, Libi and Suissa. No passport or identity number is published for any of them. The Avichai Suissa entry carries no statement of reasons as published; the briefing says so rather than borrowing one.
Al-Qard Al-Hasan is the day's counter-terrorism designation. The UK finds reasonable grounds to suspect that the Beirut institution, listed as a financial services and charitable organisation at the Shaheen Building in Al-Sfeir with a published telephone number and website, is a member of or associated with Hizballah and provides financial services and funds for the purposes of terrorism, specifically to Hizballah. OFAC has treated it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since July 2007, so the UK is not the first authority to act, but the UK listing is a new legal act: an asset freeze and director disqualification enforceable under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act against UK persons and UK-nexus transactions. The joint FCDO, OFSI and OTSI notice was issued as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband set out to Parliament a wider reset of policy towards Israeli settlements, including trade measures on settlement goods; AFP reports the Israeli and United States reactions. The measures on the six parties are the list facts; the political context is reported, not adjudicated.
Party detail
Every row below was read against the issuing authority's own notice, not against a press report. Aliases are reproduced in full, including non Latin script forms, because the alias field is where a screening run usually fails. Identifiers are published sanctions data.
| Party | Action and instrument | Identifiers | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben-Zion Gopstein | DesignationThe Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Date of birth: 10 Sep 1969Nationality: Israel; United StatesIdentifier: No passport or national identification number published in the list entry | Designated on 8 September 2026. UK Statement of Reasons: the Secretary of State considers that there are reasonable grounds to suspect Ben-Zion Gopstein is an involved person under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 on the basis that he is and/or has been facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; specifically, that he has facilitated, incited, promoted and provided support for violence against Palestinian individuals. |
| Meir Mordechai Ettinger | DesignationThe Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Date of birth: Not published in the list entryNationality: Not published in the list entryIdentifier: No passport or national identification number published in the list entryAddress: West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories | Designated on 8 September 2026. UK Statement of Reasons: the Secretary of State considers that there are reasonable grounds to suspect Meir Mordechai Ettinger is an involved person under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 on the basis that he is and/or has been facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; specifically, that he has facilitated, incited, promoted and provided support for violence against Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. |
| Eliav Libi | DesignationThe Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Date of birth: Not published in the list entryNationality: Not published in the list entryIdentifier: Gender: male. No passport or national identification number published in the list entryAddress: West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories | Designated on 8 September 2026. UK Statement of Reasons: the Secretary of State considers that there are reasonable grounds to suspect Eliav Libi is an involved person within the meaning of the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 on the basis that he is and/or has been responsible for, engaging in, facilitating, inciting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; specifically, that he has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. |
| Baruch Marzel | DesignationThe Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Date of birth: 23 Apr 1959Nationality: Israel; United StatesIdentifier: Place of birth Boston, United StatesIdentifier: gender male. No passport or national identification number published in the list entry | Designated on 8 September 2026. UK Statement of Reasons: the Secretary of State considers that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Baruch Marzel is an involved person under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 on the basis that he is and/or has been facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; specifically, that he has facilitated, incited, promoted and provided support for violence against Palestinian individuals. |
| Avichai Suissa | DesignationThe Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Date of birth: 1 Jul 1986Nationality: IsraelIdentifier: Country of birth IsraelIdentifier: gender male. No passport or national identification number published in the list entryAddress: West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories | Designated on 8 September 2026 under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, with an asset freeze, travel ban and director disqualification. The UK Sanctions List entry as published on 8 September carries no UK Statement of Reasons, so the specific grounds are not reproduced here; the designation was announced in the same FCDO, OFSI and OTSI notice as the four other Global Human Rights designations of the day, which concern violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Screen on the identifiers published: date of birth 1 July 1986, Israeli nationality, West Bank address. |
| Al-Qard Al-Hasan | DesignationThe Counter-Terrorism (International Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018) | Identifier: Type of entity: financial services / charitable organisationIdentifier: telephone +961 1 270 370Identifier: website http://www.qardhusan.orgAddress: Beirut-Al-Sfeir-Shaheen Building, Beirut, Lebanon | Designated on 8 September 2026. UK Statement of Reasons: the Secretary of State considers that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Al-Qard Al-Hasan (AQAH) is an involved person within the meaning of the Counter-Terrorism (International Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 on the basis that (a) AQAH is a member of, or associated with, Hizballah, an entity which is and/or has been involved in terrorist activity, and (b) AQAH is involved in providing financial services and making available funds for the purposes of terrorism, specifically to Hizballah. AQAH has been listed by OFAC as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 24 July 2007; the UK designation is a distinct legal act carrying its own asset freeze under UK law. |
What this means for your organisation
- 01
Load the six UK entries today, with the Hebrew-script names and the Unique IDs: GHR0198 to GHR0202 and CTI0084 are the keys the UK search service uses; carry the Hebrew names as aliases so transliteration variants (Bentzi Gopstein, Al-Qard Al-Hassan) match, and record the two dual US nationals as such.
- 02
Screen on dates of birth and addresses where no identity number exists: The UK published no passport or identity number for any of the five individuals. Match Gopstein on 10 September 1969, Marzel on 23 April 1959 and Boston, Suissa on 1 July 1986, and treat West Bank addresses for Ettinger, Libi and Suissa as a corroborating field, not a discriminating one.
- 03
Treat Al-Qard Al-Hasan as a UK freeze as well as an OFAC one: An institution that has screened as an OFAC SDGT since 2007 now also carries a UK asset freeze and director disqualification; review any UK-nexus exposure, including sterling clearing, UK-incorporated counterparties and UK persons in the chain, and re-run the Lebanon correspondent book against the published telephone number and website.
- 04
Record the Suissa entry with its gap, not with borrowed grounds: The list carries no statement of reasons for GHR0202; store the measures, date of birth, nationality and address the UK published and flag the grounds field as not published, so the record can be completed when the FCDO does.
- 05
Keep the echoes out and the unverified registers open: The UK's 7 September Swalleh variation, the RBI section 51A circulars and Qatar's NCTC update remain implementations of UN actions already delivered; twenty-three registers were not retrieved and three could not be read in verifiable form, and all are carried forward, not cleared.
Where this issue came from
The map plots the sources Youverify monitors. The pulsing markers are the one authorities cited in this issue: FCDO. Hover any marker to name the sources read there.
Method statement
Parties are taken from the issuing authorities' list data and notices as recorded in the Youverify Sanctions Monitor of 8 September 2026, one row per party. Website copy for this archive edition is compiled from that day's published briefing.
Corrections
No corrections issued for this issue. Corrections are published on the issue they affect, dated, with the original text retained.Cite this issue
Vyra from Youverify. "The UK Designates Five West Bank Settler Figures and Hizballah's Lender Al-Qard Al-Hasan." Youverify Sanctions Monitor, issue 120, 8 September 2026. https://youverify.co/en/sanctions/2026-09-08. Accessed 8 September 2026.