The US is imposing sanctions on a “militant Palestinian” group based Nablus’s Old City in the West Bank that is said to have claimed responsibility for multiple drive-by shootings at Israeli vehicles in the area.

In October 2022, members of the group, named Lions’ Den, fired at Israeli vehicles driving close to the nearby settlement of Elon Moreh, injuring a taxi driver and damaging vehicles, according to the US State Department, which is responsible for the country’s foreign policy. In a separate attack, numerous shots were fired toward the West Bank settlement of Har Bracha.

The previous month, Lions’ Den members injured and killed Palestinian civilians during clashes between Palestinian fighters and Palestinian Authority Security Forces in Nablus, while in April this year, Palestinian media reported that the group targeted Israeli forces with small arms at an Israeli checkpoint in the city, the government office said.

“The United States condemns any and all acts of violence committed in the West Bank, whoever the perpetrators, and we will use the tools at our disposal to expose and hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability there,” said Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman.

A statement from the department added: “Today’s target is being designated for being responsible for, or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, actions — including directing, enacting, implementing, enforcing, or failing to enforce policies — that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank”.

While the State Department characterised Lions’ Den as “violent” and a “militant group”, it stopped short of using the term “terrorist” as the group has not officially been designated as such by the US.

Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who studies Palestinian armed groups and Iranian proxies and has been tracking the group since its founding in 2022, appeared to contradict the government claim that the group struck in April.

“The Lions' Den have not been active since last summer,” Truzman said in a post on X/Twitter.

“Moreover, their leadership and members were decimated by Israeli counter terror operations. Sanctions on the group are far too late and there are no signs they are going to resurge.”