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The US has imposed its third round of sanctions targeting Hamas-affiliated individuals and entities since the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The US has imposed these sanctions in coordination with the UK to disrupt these terrorist financing channels. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this on social media X, "The United States, in coordination with the UK, is imposing sanctions on individuals and entities that have supported Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups. We continue to coordinate with our partners and allies to disrupt these terrorist financing channels." https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1724420507531981302?s=20 "This action designates key Hamas officials and the mechanisms by which Iran provides support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Today's designations are coordinated with action by the UK and are aimed at protecting the international financial system from abuse by Hamas and its enablers," the US Department of the Treasury said in an official statement. Moreover, it also stated that the US Department of State is concurrently designating a leader of PIJ's military wing. US Secretary of the Treasury stressed that the US, along with its partners, will continue to work to deny the Hamas's ability to raise. "The United States will continue to work with our partners, including the UK, to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out its atrocities. Hamas's actions have caused immense suffering and shown that terrorism does not occur in isolation. Together with our partners, we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas's financial infrastructure, cut them off from outside funding, and block the new funding channels they seek to finance their heinous acts," US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said. According to the statement, the action builds on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) recent October 27 and October 18 designations of Hamas operatives and financial facilitators, as well as its May 2022 designation of officials and companies involved in managing Hamas's secret international investment portfolio. "These targetted people are being designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups and their supporters," the statement said. Moreover, the US Treasury Department noted that Iranian support, primarily through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has enabled Hamas's and PIJ's terrorist activities, to include the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial assistance and the furnishing of both weapons and operational training. One of the key Hamas officials, Mahmoud Khaled Zahhar (Zahhar), who is a senior member and co-founder of Hamas and has worked closely with Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is also on the list of targeted people. As per the sanction, "all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC." Additionally, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Moreover, unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC's regulations generally "prohibit all transactions by US persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons." (ANI)
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