- The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on ten individuals associated with the Hamas terrorist group
- The move targeted crypto wallets belonging to key Hamas members, operatives, and financial facilitators in various locations.
- These actions are in response to recent violence in the Middle East and are aimed at preventing Hamas terrorists from raising and using funds for attacks on Israeli civilians.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) yesterday imposed sanctions on ten individuals associated with the Hamas terrorist group, once again targeting crypto wallets. The latest sanctions target key Hamas members, operatives, and financial facilitators in various locations, including Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, and Qatar. The action is aimed at those managing assets in a secret Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with links to the Iranian regime, a significant Hamas commander, and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange and its operator.
US Freezing All Hamas-linked Assets
OFAC’s actions are a response to recent violence in the Middle East, particularly the “brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” as stated by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. The Treasury announced that it will continue to take measures to prevent Hamas terrorists from raising and using funds to carry out attacks and terrorize the people of Israel, including imposing sanctions and cooperating with allies and partners to track, freeze, and seize any Hamas-related assets.
In this round of designations, OFAC is targeting six individuals linked to Hamas’s secret investment portfolio, two senior Hamas officials, and a Gaza-based digital currency exchange and its operator. These actions are carried out under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which focuses on terrorist groups and their supporters.
The move is part of a broader effort by the United States to disrupt Hamas’s sources of revenue in the West Bank, Gaza, and the wider region, and has been carried out in coordination with regional partners and allies.
Anti-crypto Figures Score Political Points
The same day as OFAC announced this latest round of sanctions, a letter was sent to the Treasury Department and the White House from 105 lawmakers led by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Roger Marshall, and Representative Sean Casten expressing “grave concern” that Hamas and an affiliated group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad were using digital assets to fund their operations and evade U.S. sanctions.
It is hardly surprising that anti-crypto figures are using the opportunity to further their own agendas but the letter hides the fact that US dollars are still the fundraising medium of choice for terrorism groups around the world.
