The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions targets are members who manage a Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a key Hamas commander and a virtual currency exchange house based in Gaza. Iran is the main sponsor of Hamas .
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States “is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas financiers and facilitators following their brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children.”
"The US Treasury has a long history of effectively disrupting terrorist financing and we will not hesitate to use our tools against Hamas," he said in an emailed statement.
Treasury Undersecretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters Wednesday that Treasury officials will travel to the region in the coming days to continue their sanctions work.
President Joe Biden who arrived in the Middle East early Wednesday to show support for Israel, has tried to reduce tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, but those efforts have faced huge setbacks, including a hospital explosion from Gaza that He killed about 500 people.
Brian Nelson, U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and illicit finance, said Tuesday at a Deloitte anti-money laundering conference that the United States is renewing its plans to seek funding sources for Hamas and appealed to U.S. allies. and the private sector to do the same. the same or “be prepared to suffer the consequences.”
"We cannot, and will not, tolerate money flowing through the international system for Hamas terrorist activity," Nelson said.
"We want to partner with all countries and financial entities willing to stop funding Hamas," he said, "but to the extent that any institution or jurisdiction fails to take appropriate action, it should be prepared to suffer the consequences."
The shadowy leader of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the Oct. 7 attack on Israel was a response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli incursions into West Bank cities over the past year, increased settler attacks on Palestinians and the growth of settlements, among other reasons.
“Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message. He said the attack was just the beginning of what he called Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, and called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight.
