On Friday, the Treasury Department slapped sanctions against a Hamas spokeswoman and the commanders of the group’s drone unit.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it was targeting Hamas commanders in Gaza and Lebanon who are in charge of cyber and unmanned aerial vehicle operations.
The European Union is also applying fresh Hamas-related sanctions, according to the statement.
“Today’s joint action reinforces our continued, collective focus on disrupting Hamas’ ability to conduct further attacks, including cyber warfare and UAV production,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
“Treasury, in coordination with our allies and partners, will continue to target Hamas’s facilitation networks wherever they operate, including in the cyber domain.”
The United States is targeting Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut, also known as Abu Ubaida, who has served as the spokesperson for Hamas’ military branch in Gaza since 2007. Al-Kahlut heads the cyber influence department and has been involved in servers in Iran that host the “official al-Qassam Brigades website in cooperation with Iranian institutions,” according to the Treasury.
The department is also targeting William Abu Shanab, head of the Lebanon-based al-Shumali unit, Bara’a Hasan Farhat, Aby Shanab’s aide, and Khalil Muhammad ‘Azzam, an intelligence official in the unit.
“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the agency said in a statement.
