The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions on entities allegedly linked to the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah amid the group’s military campaign to defend the Palestinians against an ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza.
The Treasury said on Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on a network it claimed was involved in smuggling oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Syria, saying the network was overseen by a senior leader of Hezbollah's finance team.
It said the network was made up of three people, five companies and two vessels that were using profits from LPG shipments to Syria to aid generate revenue for Hezbollah.
The sanctions come as Hezbollah continues to target Israeli military positions in the north of the occupied Palestine as part of a campaign to force the regime to end its brutal aggression on Gaza.
Hezbollah has suffered hundreds of casualties and major financial losses in its ongoing conflict with Israel while it has inflicted huge losses on the Israeli regime. It says the campaign will end once Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and completely stops a nearly year-long aggression that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.
The group has also been outspoken in its criticism of the United States over the military and financial support Washington has provided to Israel in its war on Gaza.
However, a senior US Treasury official said after announcing the sanctions on Hezbollah that the group’s firing of rockets toward Israeli targets was a source instability in the region.
Bradley Smith, an Under Secretary of the Treasury, also blamed Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel for displacing tens of thousands in southern Lebanon.