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US imposes sanctions on Israeli group attacking aid convoys to Gaza [1]

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Date: 2024-06-17  

U.S. imposes sanctions on Israeli group for thwarting Gaza aid deliveries, an article in the Washington Post on June 14, has this sub-heading: “The measures against Tsav 9 aim to stop its attacks on convoys of aid for starving Gazan civilians.”

The article continues: “In a bid to halt activity that U.S. officials worry is inflaming tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,

the Biden administration announced sanctions Friday against an extremist Israeli group that for months has been attacking and impeding convoys of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The measures against Tsav 9, a group with ties to Israeli military reservists and West Bank settlers, aims to punish the organization for its blockades of roads between Jordan and Gaza and its attacks on trucks carrying badly needed aid to civilians in Gaza.

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, announced the sanctions with this press statement: Sanctioning Israeli Group for Disrupting and Destroying Humanitarian Aid to Civilians

The Department of State is today designating Tzav 9, a violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing, and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. For months, individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently, along their route from Jordan to Gaza, including in the West Bank. They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road. On May 13, 2024, Tzav 9 members looted and then set fire to two trucks near Hebron in the West Bank carrying humanitarian aid destined for men, women, and children in Gaza.

The press statement continues by calling on Israel to meet its obligations:

The provision of humanitarian assistance is vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine. The Government of Israel has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian convoys transiting Israel and the West Bank enroute to Gaza. We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence targeting this essential humanitarian assistance. We will continue to use all tools at our disposal to promote accountability for those who attempt or undertake such heinous acts, and we expect and urge that Israeli authorities do the same.

The Washington Post article says that under the authority of an executive order on West Bank violence which Biden issued in February, the action will freeze the group’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction and U.S. citizens will also be barred from dealing with the group. So far, individual members of the group have not been hit with sanctions, but the article says they could face them in the future.

According to the same article, Tsav 9 has hundreds of members, including demobilized reservists and West Bank settlers, and it has been blocking shipments since January. The group claims it has been trying to block shipments of aid that go to Hamas, but the Biden administration says the aid goes to civilians.

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The sanctions are also reported in two other articles:

US sanctions far-right Israeli group behind attacks on aid convoys bound for Gaza

The financial sanctions will be imposed under an executive order on West Bank violence Biden signed in February, which was previously used to impose [sanctions] on violent settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians and Israeli peace activists. The sanctions announced Friday were the fourth batch issued under the executive order. “We’re using the authority to sanction an ever-broadening selection of actors, targeting individuals and entities that threaten the peace, security and stability of the West Bank regardless of religion, ethnicity or location,” Aaron Forsberg, director of the State Department’s office of sanctions policy and implementation, told Reuters.

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Israeli Group for Blocking Gaza Aid Convoys

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