Japan decided Tuesday to freeze the assets of nine individuals, including members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and a related company, imposing sanctions on the organization amid its war against Israel.
The punitive measures are the first imposed by Japan since Hamas launched what the country calls a "terror attack" on Israel on Oct. 7, triggering a large-scale conflict between the Jewish state and the Islamist group.
Japan accuses those subjected to the asset freezes of being involved in fundraising for Hamas, according to a Foreign Ministry official.
The measures, implemented with immediate effect, follow similar sanctions by the United States in mid-October on the individuals and the firm.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference that Japan will continue to consider imposing additional sanctions "from the viewpoint of dealing with fundraising for terrorism."
The nationalities of the nine men are Palestinian, Sudanese, Egyptian and Jordanian, with one of them being a dual national of Turkey and Jordan, the ministry said.
They are key Hamas members, operatives and financial facilitators, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The firm, called Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, is a business based in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip that provides money transfer and virtual currency exchange services, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
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