Thu. Nov 21st, 2024

U.S. Treasury targets key Hamas leaders and financiers

Nov 20, 2024 ,

Washington, November 19, 2024

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating six senior Hamas officials, including the terrorist group’s representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as individuals involved in supporting the terrorist group’s fundraising efforts and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

“Hamas continues to rely on key officials who seemingly maintain legitimate, public-facing roles within the group, yet who facilitate their terrorist activities, represent their interests abroad, and coordinate the transfer of money and goods into Gaza,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas’s efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account.”

This action marks OFAC’s ninth sanctions tranche since October 7, 2023, targeting Hamas and its supporters. The most recent action on October 7, 2024 targeted Hamas’s use of sham charities and one of its prominent international supporters. OFAC also targeted Hamas cyber actors on April 12, 2024 and some of their financial facilitators and sources of funding on October 18, 2023 and October 27, 2023. The United States government has also worked closely with its key international partners and allies in countering Hamas, including a joint designation with Australia and the United Kingdom on January 22, 2024, as well as three actions with the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024, December 13, 2023, and November 14, 2023, all targeting Hamas leaders and financiers.

Individuals targeted today are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups and their supporters.

Hamas leaders and financiers active abroad

Abd al-Rahman Ismail abd al-Rahman Ghanimat (Ghanimat) is a longtime member of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. While he is now based in Türkiye, Ghanimat, who also founded a section of Hamas responsible for supporting Hamas interests in the West Bank, has been involved in multiple attempted and successful terrorist attacks, including the 1997 daytime bombing of a café in Tel Aviv.

Musa Daud Muhammad Akari (Akari) is a senior Hamas official based in Türkiye who facilitates the flow of funds from Türkiye into Gaza and the West Bank for Hamas. Akari was previously convicted of kidnapping and murdering an Israeli border police officer.

Salama Mari (Mari) is a Hamas official based in Türkiye involved in financial facilitation for the group. Mari was previously imprisoned for his role in a 1993 attack in the West Bank that killed an Israeli soldier.

Mohammad Nazzal (Nazzal) is a Hamas official who has provided support to the terrorist group for over 30 years. As a senior leader serving on Hamas’s Council on International Relations, Nazzal represents Hamas’s interests to a variety of international audiences.

Basem Naim (Naim) is a senior Hamas member based in Gaza, who has participated in Hamas’s engagements with Russia and been a part of Hamas delegations to other countries. Naim also holds a leadership role on Hamas’s Council on International Relations.

Ghazi Hamad (Hamad) is a long-time Gaza-based Hamas leader who served as the editor of Hamas propaganda outlets and is authorized to speak publicly on behalf of Hamas. In addition to these public facing and propaganda roles, Hamad previously served as a Hamas senior official overseeing border crossings at Gaza. While these border crossings were one of the primary ways Hamas smuggled weapons into Gaza, these crossings were also used to smuggle the construction equipment and materials Hamas needed to build an extensive tunnel network they intentionally interspersed among Palestinian civilians.

OFAC is designating Ghanimat, Akari, Mari, Nazzal, Naim, and Hamad pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Hamas, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224.

Sanctions implications

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above, and of any entities that are owned directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked 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. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

U.S. persons must comply with OFAC regulations, including all U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all persons within the United States, and all U.S.-incorporated entities and their foreign branches. Non-U.S. persons are also subject to certain OFAC prohibitions. For example, non-U.S. persons are prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. Violations of OFAC regulations may result in civil or criminal penalties.

OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations based on strict liability, meaning that a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction may be held civilly liable even if such person did not know or have reason to know that it was engaging in a transaction that was prohibited under sanctions laws and regulations administered by OFAC. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation. For additional information on complying with U.S. sanctions and export control laws, please see the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Justice Tri-Seal Compliance Note.

Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the individuals designated today entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for more information on the individuals designated today.

Additional Treasury resources on countering the financing of terrorism:

Source – U.S. Treasury

 

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