On Tuesday, October 31, Japan announced sanctions against nine members of the Palestinian group Hamas and entities associated with them, as reported by Kyodo.
These measures are the first imposed by Japan since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, leading to a large-scale conflict between the Jewish state and the Islamist group.
Sanctions targeted nine individuals and their companies that were involved in financing Hamas. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these individuals include Palestinians, Sudanese, Egyptians, and Jordanians, with one of them holding dual citizenship of Turkey and Jordan.
The assets of these individuals and entities will be frozen within Japan, and they will be prohibited from accessing them.
According to an official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan accuses those subject to asset freezes of involvement in funding Hamas.
Hirokazu Matsuno, Chief Cabinet Secretary, stated in a press conference that Japan will continue to consider the possibility of imposing additional sanctions "in terms of combating the fundraising for terrorism."
