PRESS RELEASE : UK and US hit Hamas leadership with targeted sanctions [November 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 November 2023.

The UK and US have targeted Hamas with a new tranche of sanctions today, restricting the terror group’s ability to operate.

• 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 4 Hamas senior leaders and 2 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 David Cameron 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.