Tokyo: Japan has sanctioned nine individuals and one organisation to combat terrorism, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In particular, citizens of Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Palestine, as well as the Gaza-based virtual currency exchange Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, have been added to the list.
Tokyo accused the sanctioned individuals and the company of allegedly financing Palestinian movement Hamas, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing a source in the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The restrictions are the first to be imposed by Japan since the beginning of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7.
“The source of income needs to be terminated and therefore this measure has been designed. From the counterterrorism point of view we are going to continue to consider further sanctions,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
Earlier in October, the United States imposed sanctions on the same individuals and the company over their links to Hamas.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. The blockade was later eased to allow trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The escalation of the conflict has resulted in thousands of people killed and injured.
