US imposes sanctions on Israeli group that attacked aid organizations in Gaza

Washington will impose sanctions on an Israeli group on Friday for attacking aid convoys for starving civilians in the Gaza Strip, US officials told Reuters, the latest move against actors Washington believes threaten the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The sanctions are aimed at Tsav 9, a group with links to Israeli army reservists and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Its activities include blocking, harassing and damaging aid deliveries.

The financial sanctions are being imposed under an executive order on violence in the West Bank signed by Biden in February, which has previously been used to impose financial restrictions on Jewish settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians and a Palestinian terrorist group.

“We are using our authority to impose sanctions on an ever-increasing range of actors, targeting individuals and entities that threaten the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or location,” Aaron Forsberg, director of the Office of Sanctions Policy and Enforcement at the U.S. State Department, told Reuters.

On May 13, members of Tsav 9 looted and set fire to two aid trucks near the West Bank city of Hebron.