Hamas-linked financiers from Sudan and Algeria are among 10 new individuals and entities identified by the United States and subject to sanctions imposed by the Department of Treasury, the U.S. announced Wednesday.
Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair, known as Hamza, has assisted Hamas through a network of large companies in Sudan, the U.S. said.
“The network used by Hamza to launder money and generate revenue for Hamas includes Sudan-based Al Rowad Real Estate Development,” said the U.S. statement, referring to a firm previously identified in 2022. “Hamza also has longstanding ties to terrorism financing, including historic ties to al-Qaida and Usama bin Laden-linked companies in Sudan.”
Investment portfolio manager Aiman Ahmad Al-Duwaik is identified as a Hamas operative and a part of the organization’s investment network, along with others operating in Algeria and Turkey. Amer Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb and Walid Mohammed Mustafa Jadallah also were placed under U.S. sanctions for their role in the network.
Other sanctions were applied to an Iran-linked financial facilitator in Qatar, a key Hamas commander, and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange.
The designations “are part of a continuous effort by the United States to root out Hamas’s sources of revenue in the West Bank and Gaza and across the region,” the U.S. said, noting that nearly 1,000 individuals and entities from Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-linked groups in the region have been identified.
Effective immediately, all property assets of those sanctioned are blocked and must be reported. “Financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action,” the U.S. said.
Source : Africa Times
