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US imposes sanctions on Israeli group for blocking Gaza aid
Since the war erupted, essential aid deliveries to Gaza have been severely restricted by the Israeli government, leaving many people short of food and water, and several thousand children suffering acute malnutrition.
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Palestinians pursue their daily chores, as smoke rises following the Israeli bombardment of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on June 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (AFP/Eyad Baba)
T
he United States on Friday imposed sanctions on extremist Israeli group Tzav 9, accusing it of blocking convoys and looting and burning trucks trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Since the war erupted, essential aid deliveries to Gaza have been severely restricted by the Israeli government, leaving many people short of food and water, and several thousand children suffering acute malnutrition.
Tzav 9 is a right-wing activist group seeking to halt any aid arriving in Gaza so long as Israeli hostages are held in the Palestinian territory.
"Individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently," the US State Department said.
"They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road."
The State Department statement said that on May 13, Tzav 9 members looted and set fire to two trucks in the West Bank carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
"The provision of humanitarian assistance is vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine," it said.
"We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence targeting this essential humanitarian assistance."
The United States, the top supporter of Israel, has already imposed sanctions on a number of settler extremists since the start of the war.
President Joe Biden's administration is pressing for a ceasefire deal which it says is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has drawn fury from some of the Israeli leader's far-right allies.
Hamas in a formal response this week stopped short of accepting the plan, making counter-proposals on several points.
Tsav 9 was founded in January by militants close to the Israeli far-right and presents itself as an association of civilians, both religious and secular, that includes family members of hostages.
The group -- whose name is a reference to the mobilization call for reservists during wartime -- says it hopes to free captives by blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The war began after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages. Of these, 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has left at least 37,232 people dead in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
