The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated ten entities and individuals responsible for leading and financing the terrorist activities of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (“PIJ”) and Hamas. The designations, made pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, build upon the two previous rounds of sanctions imposed since the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and target terrorist groups and their supporters.
According to OFAC, hundreds of millions of dollars have been transferred to Hamas and the PIJ with the help of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Money transfers have been made through organizations such as the Muhjat AlQuds Foundation in Gaza and its leader Jamil Yusuf Ahmad ‘Aliyan, and through money exchanges such as Nabil Chouman & Co. based in Lebanon. In addition to these designees, OFAC has designated high-ranking members of Hamas, and those who act on behalf of the organization. The US Department of State has also designated Akram al-Ajouri, the Syria-based Secretary General of the PIJ, who allegedly coordinated the organizations military training operations in Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Lebanon, and Yemen.
As a result of these sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated persons within the United States or within the possession or control of a US person are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. In addition, entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
In coordination with the United States, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has added five individuals to the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK. Sanctioned individuals include Lebanon-based Nabil Khaled Hilal Chouman, three Gazans, and a Sudanese national, for their involvement in terrorism, the provision of arms, and the financing of Hamas, which was first listed in 2003, and placed on the UK consolidated list in December 2020.