U.S. imposes new sanctions to target Hamas funding

The Biden administration has imposed a new round of sanctions on Hamas-linked officials to cut off the terror group’s investment fund and sever a conduit for Iranian financial support for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Treasury Department announced Friday.

Hamas controls a global portfolio of investments estimated to be worth more than $500 million with companies operating in Sudan, Algeria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. 

“This investment network is directed by the highest levels of Hamas leadership and has allowed Hamas senior officials to live in luxury while ordinary Palestinians in Gaza struggle in harsh living and economic conditions,” the Treasury Department said last week after the first rounds of sanctions were announced.

Companies identified in the latest round of sanctions include the Spain-based Zawaya Group for Development Investment Sociedad Limitada and the Larrycom for Investment Company, owned by Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair, a Hamas financier based in Sudan.

The Treasury Department also is targeting the Al-Ansar Charity Association which has been linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Ansar claims to be an extension of Iranian financial support to the Palestinian people but ultimately serves as a recruiting tool for terrorist activities, officials said.

The action “underscores the United States’ commitment to dismantling Hamas’ funding networks by deploying our counterterrorism sanctions authorities and working with our global partners to deny Hamas the ability to exploit the international financial system,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned several Iranian officials with links to Hamas, including commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who provided combat training to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as Khaled Qaddoumi, a Jordanian national living in Tehran who serves as a liaison between Iran and Hamas. 

The Treasury Department said all U.S.-based property and financial holdings belonging to those people and groups listed are blocked and must be reported to OFAC, the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Anyone who engages with those on the sanctions list may also be subject to enforcement, officials said.

“We will not hesitate to take action to further degrade Hamas’ ability to commit horrific terrorist activity by relentlessly targeting its financial activities and streams of funding,” Mr. Adeyemo said.