The European Union (EU) announced on Friday a new set of sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, targeting six individuals linked to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
This move follows the deadly attack carried out by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7th.
Hamas, already designated as a terrorist organization by the EU, is now facing a legal framework explicitly tailored to penalize the group and its associates. The European Council highlighted that the list could be expanded to include “all those providing material or financial support” to Hamas or the Islamic Jihad Movement.
Among those sanctioned are Sudan-based financier Abdulbasit Hamza Hassan Mohammed Khair, Nabil Shouman and his son Khaled Shouman, significant Hamas financier Reda Ali Khamis, prominent Hamas leader Musa Dudin, and Algerian-based financier Ayman Ahmad Al-Duwaik.
The sanctions, motivated by arms trafficking and support for activities undermining Israel’s stability or security and involvement in severe humanitarian law or human rights violations, are set to remain in effect until January 19, 2025. The EU will continually review, renew, or modify these measures as necessary.
A senior EU official stated that the first group of individuals facing sanctions is linked to providing funding for Hamas. This announcement comes a month after the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Hamas, with the latest round announced by the U.S. Treasury Department targeting individuals in Turkey and other locations connected to the movement.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s statement noted the sanctions against eight individuals supporting Hamas’s agenda through representing the group’s interests abroad and managing its financial affairs.
U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson remarked that Hamas heavily relies on networks of well-positioned officials and affiliates, exploiting jurisdictions that appear lenient to orchestrate fundraising campaigns for the group and channel these illegitimate revenues to support its military activities in Gaza.
The U.S. Treasury Department also revealed that Hamas had established a secretive network of companies managing investments worth $500 million, extending from Turkey to Saudi Arabia. Both the EU and the U.S. categorize Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, controversially stated on Friday that Israel had self-funded the creation of Hamas over the years, openly opposing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who denied these allegations.
The Islamic Jihad Movement condemned the European Council’s decision to impose sanctions on members of its movement and Hamas.
In a statement, they described the decision as biased towards Israel, providing political cover for Israel’s ongoing “holocaust” against the Palestinian people, along with military and intelligence support for the aggression against the Gaza Strip, blatantly ignoring the demands of their populations to stop it immediately.
The sanctions follow more than three months after a surprise operation by the movement in the Gaza Envelope, targeting Israeli settlements and military bases.
Hamas’s October 7th attack marked the most significant shock to Israel since the 1973 war, with ongoing repercussions as Israel wages an unprecedented war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in over 25,000 casualties, predominantly children and women, and extensive destruction in Gaza.
