US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on Hamas operatives, eyes global coalition to block flow of funds to the terrorist group.
By Susan Tawil, World Israel News
The U.S. Treasury Department has expanded its use of sanctions to crack down on funding for the Hamas terrorist organization, and is working to create a global coalition to starve the group of funding.
The U.S. has officially recognized Hamas as a terror group since 1997. As such, the US has imposed dozens of economic sanctions against them.
To date, the US Treasury has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hamas has tried to subvert the restrictions by investing in cryptocurrency, or going through new financial facilitators.
However, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo last week announced new sanctions to block the flow of funds to Hamas and its financial facilitators.
On October 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on ten top Hamas members, operatives, and financial facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere including Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, and Qatar.
These sanctions include the designation of individuals and corporations involved in a secret international investment portfolio.
Under the guise of legitimate businesses, vast amounts of money were laundered, generating estimates of hundreds of millions of dollars.
This revenue has been used to enrich Hamas leaders, who live in luxury, to the detriment of Gaza civilians.
“The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” said US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
“We will not hesitate to use our tools against Hamas. We will continue to take all steps necessary to deny Hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities and terrorize the people of Israel,” she added.
As a result of the sanctions, according to today’s US Department of the Treasury website: “…all property and interests in property of the designated persons…that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC…The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.”
During his visit to Israel on Tuesday, French President Emanuel Macron said that Hamas should be included in the international coalition against ISIS. This week, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo will meet with US allies in Europe to discuss the formation of such an international coalition to target the Hamas financial network. He says that the US will use a similar strategy to that which was used against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist groups.
US Treasury Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, is also meeting abroad this week, but with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries to “increase their focus on (combatting) terrorism.”