The Israeli group Tzav 9 was sanctioned by the Biden administration on Friday after it reportedly blocked aid shipments headed to Gaza, the State Department announced.

The organization has been blocking roads and preventing aid from moving through Israel to reach Gaza over the last several months. The State Department has designated Tzav 9 a “violent extremist” group and states they have 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,” said an official statement from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller

In some of the posted videos of the incidents, members of the group can be seen looting the trucks and tossing aid packages onto the road. The State Department cites an incident from May 13, when where Tzav 9 members set fire to two trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza.

“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,” Miller’s statement said.

In response the designation, Tzav 9 released a statement saying they are shocked by the U.S. actions and that its members are working to “stop aid to the enemy in a time of war.”

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