The Biden administration on Friday took the unusual step of blacklisting a group of Israelis involved in the looting and destruction of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip after eight months of brutal war.
It is only the second time in recent years that the United States has punished Israeli groups for their violent and sometimes deadly actions against Palestinians.
Last year, the State Department announced it would ban American entry to dozens of Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinian villagers in the West Bank, destroyed their property and attempted to seize their land.
Several hundred Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in recent months in these attacks and in Israeli military operations.
The latest US move targets a group known as Tzav 9, which in Hebrew means “Order 9,” in reference to orders to call up Israeli reservists. U.S. officials say the group has ties to extremist Jewish settlers in West Bank settlements.
“For months, Tzav 9 individuals have repeatedly tried to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blocking roads, sometimes violently, along their route from Jordan to Gaza, including in the West Bank,” the department spokesperson said. of State, Matthew Miller. in a sentence. “They also damaged aid trucks and dumped vital humanitarian aid on the road.”
They have also burned aid trucks, he said. “We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence against this essential humanitarian assistance,” Miller said.
As negotiations for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas have yet to be successful, the inability of international organizations to bring food, water and medicine to Gaza has deepened the suffering there, with more than a million Palestinians facing hunger. Aid agencies report that children are dying from malnutrition and hundreds of people are dying from lack of medical care. Most hospitals have been left inoperable due to the ongoing Israeli bombing of Gaza.
Last month, Israel closed the Rafah crossing on Gaza's border with Egypt, a main entry point for aid. The US military built a dock on the coast of Gaza, but it has been plagued by high seas and other problems that have limited its use to deliver aid.
Tzav 9 claims it is preventing “gifts” from reaching Hamas, the Gaza militant group whose attack on kibbutzim and a music festival in southern Israel on October 7 left nearly 1,200 Israelis and others dead and sparked the current war.
Israeli extremists have at times filmed themselves blocking trucks, destroying shipments and dumping aid on the road.
More than 37,000 Palestinians – including a large number of civilians – have been killed by Israel's air and ground attacks in Gaza.
It is unclear what impact the new sanctions will have on the group. The US measures prohibit members of the sanctioned group from conducting financial transactions with US persons or entities and may prevent their travel to the United States. Any assets they have in the United States must be frozen.
The State Department also criticized the Israeli government, noting that it was “Israel's responsibility to ensure the security of humanitarian convoys transiting through Israel and the West Bank.”
Friday's action comes partly in response to an urgent request from Jordan, which has been supplying most of the aid trucks.
Jordan has been able to send up to 40 trucks a day to Gaza, a small fraction of what aid workers say is the sheer need.
