The Biden administration sanctioned a right-wing Israeli group, Tsav 9, on Friday, calling it a "violent extremist" group and accusing it of blocking humanitarian aid shipments to Palestinians in Gaza, the State Department said in a statement.
"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," the State Department said.
"They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road," the statement continued.
Tsav 9, which means "Order 9," a reference to the call-up orders for military reservists, has links to army reservists and Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Reuters reported.
The State Department said the group "looted and then set fire" to two trucks of aid designated for men, women and children in Gaza on May 13 near Hebron in the West Bank.
Reuters said right-wing factions in the Israeli government, with ties to the settler movement, oppose the cease-fire the Biden administration is trying to broker between Israel and Hamas, which invaded Israel on Oct. 7.
The State Department said humanitarian aid is "vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening."
"The Government of Israel has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian convoys transiting Israel and the West Bank en route to Gaza," it said. "We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence targeting this essential humanitarian assistance."
Tsav 9 is listed as sanctioned on the website of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which was first reported by Reuters.
The financial sanctions will be carried out under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in February that punishes Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.
