WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday targeting individuals and sham charities that it said were prominent financial supporters of the Palestinian groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The individuals and groups targeted were funding Hamas’ military wing under the pretense of doing humanitarian work, in Gaza and internationally, the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury said it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas, which still holds hostages it seized in the group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The entities sanctioned included the Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society, the Turkey-based Filistin Vakfi, the El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, which is based in Algeria, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation and the Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro, based in Italy, the department said in a statement.
The five individuals targeted on Tuesday were leaders associated with the groups, it said.
“Today’s action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations,” Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said in the statement.
Hamas and PFLP have a long histroy of abusing non-profit organizations and charities, the Treasury said.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Jasper Ward)
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