- Sanctions on Hamas leadership to include travel bans, asset
freezes and arms embargoes
- Package is co-ordinated with US and set to disrupt Hamas
operations both in Gaza and wherever their leaders base
themselves
- Foreign Secretary declares UK ‘stands in solidarity’ with the
Palestinian people caught up in the crisis and calls on all
parties to agree to humanitarian pauses to allow lifesaving aid
into Gaza
The UK’s sanctions are against four Hamas senior leaders and two
Hamas financiers. The stringent measures have been placed on
Hamas’ leadership in an effort to disrupt the group’s acts of
terror.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ political leader in Gaza, is among
individuals from the group’s political and military wings
targeted by today’s UK sanctions. He is reported to have been
involved in the brutal attacks on Israel last month.
Also designated is Muhammed Deif, commander of the group’s
military arm.
The sanctions show that the terror group’s leaders cannot escape
the consequences of their actions, even if they are pulling the
strings from outside of Gaza. Those covered include a
Lebanon-based financier and money launderer in Sudan.
Foreign Secretary said:
We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt the
abhorrent activity of this terrorist organisation, working with
the United States and our other allies, making it harder for them
to operate and isolating them on the world stage.
The Palestinian people are victims of Hamas too. We stand in
solidarity with them and will continue to support humanitarian
pauses to allow significantly more lifesaving aid to reach Gaza.
All those sanctioned by the UK and US were targeted for their
leadership or financing roles in the group, which was originally
founded in the late 1980s with a commitment to destroy Israel.
These designations add to existing UK sanctions against Hamas,
including on the organisation itself.
Those now subject to UK travel bans, asset freezes and arms
embargoes, which prohibit the sale of weapons and military
equipment by a UK person to the designated person, include:
- Yahya Sinwar: Sinwar is a senior leader of Hamas and the
group’s political leader in Gaza.
- Muhammed Deif: Deif is a senior leader of Hamas and is the
commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB), the
military arm of Hamas, who announced the October 2023 terrorist
attacks.
- Marwan Issa: Issa is a senior leader of Hamas and is the
deputy commander of the IQB.
- Musa Dudin: Dudin is a West Bank-based Hamas official who has
procured weaponry for the group, enabling them to commit acts of
terrorism.
- Abdelbasit Hamza: Hamza is a Sudan-based Hamas financier who
owned a network of companies that laundered money and traded in
currency in order to finance Hamas.
- Nabil Chouman: Chouman has channelled funds to Hamas through
his Lebanon-based currency exchange.
The UK and the US stand united in their solidarity with Israel in
its fight against Hamas. We continue to use our diplomatic
efforts to support a two-state solution to provide justice and
security for both Israelis and Palestinians, including through
the Prime Minister’s recent visits to the region to speak with
their counterparts.
The UK has sent 51 tonnes of lifesaving aid to the region and
doubled our funding commitment to the Occupied Palestinian
Territories this year.
The Prime Minister has called on all parties to allow the
humanitarian pauses necessary to allow more aid to enter Gaza and
been clear that Israel’s forces must act within international law
and stop extremist violence in the West Bank.
