Japan's cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, announced this morning (Tuesday) the imposition of personal sanctions against senior Hamas officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Marwan Issa. According to the Japanese government announcement, the sanctions will include freezing personal assets, payments, and transfers.
The personal sanctions on senior members of the terrorist organization are added to the sanctions that the Japanese government imposed on nine other senior members of Hamas a few weeks ago. Japan is the third country to freeze Sinwar's assets, after Britain and France, which also announced a similar move in recent months.
The Japanese government's decision to impose sanctions on senior Hamas officials constitutes a significant change in the country's policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the past, Japan maintained neutrality, and always called for an immediate ceasefire in all the previous rounds against Hamas. However, this time there seems to be a change in Japanese policy and more widespread support for Israel.
In recent weeks, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with the families of the abductees held captive by Hamas in Gaza, and Japan also abstained from voting in the UN Security Council on the call for a ceasefire. There were also many records of support from the Japanese among the public, when, demonstrations of support for Israel were held, as well as videos of the citizens singing in Hebrew for the Israeli people.