US sanctions ten Hamas figures and financiers as Biden meets with Israeli leaders

New sanctions come as President Joe Biden is meeting with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv

The United States has imposed financial sanctions on ten members and financiers of Hamas, including figures tied to a covert investment portfolio meant to benefit the militant group.

In a statement, the Treasury Department said the new sanctions were targeted at “ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operatives, and financial facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere including Sudan, Türkiye, Algeria, and Qatar” as part of a “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 ... in close coordination with regional partners and allies”.

Among those now subject to the US sanctions are Musa Muhammad Salim Dudin and Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair – two Hamas financiers based in the West Bank and Sudan, respectively.

Mr Dudin, a member of the group’s Political Bureau and Investment Office who has also participated in negotiations over Hamas prisoners, is alleged to have worked to conceal Hamas’ interest in sanctioned companies by transferring their ownership.

He is also accused of working “directly” with another senior Hamas leader hit by sanctions, Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar. 

Mr Hamza, based in Sudan, is accused of having “managed numerous companies in Hamas’s investment portfolio and was previously involved in the transfer of almost $20 million to Hamas”, the Treasury Department said.

In the statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US was taking “swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children”.

“We will continue to take all steps necessary to deny Hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities and terrorize the people of Israel.

“That includes by imposing sanctions and coordinating with allies and partners to track, freeze, and seize any Hamas-related assets in their jurisdictions,” she added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement that the sanctions were specifically “directed at Hamas terrorists and their support network, not Palestinians”.

He added that “Hamas alone is responsible for the carnage its militants have inflicted on the people of Israel” and called on the group to “immediately release all hostages in its custody”.

President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stand together while meeting with victims’ relatives and first responders in Tel Aviv (AP)

The new sanctions were announced as President Joe Biden was in the midst of a visit to Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet.

The president’s trip came hours after an explosion at a Gaza hospital killed at least 300 people, including many children.

Speaking alongside Mr Netanyahu, Mr Biden said he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the explosion.

The Israeli Defence Forces says the explosion was caused by a botched rocket attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Meanwhile, the PIJ has denied involvement and Hamas has blamed Israel.

The president appeared to concur with the Israeli assessment in his comments to reporters in Tel Aviv.

“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we have to overcome a lot of things,” he said.