Last month, the US and UK imposed a third round of sanctions targeting Hamas-affiliated individuals in a show of coordinated action.

Washington: The US State Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on eight Hamas officials and facilitators, aiming to dismantle the networks that support the funding of the terror outfit. US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said in an official statement that this is the fourth round of sanctions imposed since the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

“The United States is imposing sanctions today on eight Hamas officials and facilitators for their actions representing the group’s interests abroad and managing its finances,” Miller said in a statement. The statement added that the US is closely coordinating with the UK and allies in sanctioning Hamas as part of the continuous effort to prevent and deter Hamas’ terrorist activity.

The list included individuals based in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Turkey. Among them was Ismail Barhum, who the Treasury Department said in a statement was a member of the Gaza Strip Political Bureau and has worked with Hamas Finance Minister Zaher Jabarin, also under sanction, to aggregate money from global fundraising into the organization’s finance accounts.

According to Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Haroun Mansour Yaqoub Nasser Al-Din is identified by Treasury as the head of the militant group’s office in Jerusalem and a key operative in the group’s financial operations in Turkey.

Haroun Nasser Al-Din was also involved in a network that transferred funds from Turkey and the Gaza Strip to the Hamas command center in the West Bank city of Hebron. He also worked with Hamas senior official Salih Al-Aruri to “provide financial support to Hamas activities to further unrest in the West Bank.”

The department also imposed sanctions on Mehmet Kaya, an individual based in Turkey who the U.S. said has helped transfer funds to Hamas, “ultimately providing tens of millions of dollars of financial services.”

Earlier sanctions on Nov. 14 named Hamas leaders and financiers, on Oct. 27, targeted sources of support and financing, and on Oct. 18, designated operatives and financial facilitators.

U.S. officials said the new sanctions were coordinated with the Britain’s finance ministry and showed an allied commitment aimed at “dismantling networks that support Hamas funding streams as part of our continuous effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“We closely coordinated this action with the United Kingdom, which is concurrently targeting several key Hamas officials with sanctions. The United States and our allies and partners are steadfast in our commitment to dismantling networks that support Hamas funding streams as part of our continuous effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity,” the statement added.

On October 7, Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel. Thousands of terrorists breached the borders and carried out a massive terror attack killing over 1200 Israelis and holding over 240 hostages of which around 130 are still captive. Israel has launched a strong counteroffensive targeting the Hamas units in Gaza Stip.