The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday announced sanctions against Hamas officials for their involvement in cyber influence operations.
Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Qalut, 39, also known as Abu Ubaydah, has been the spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, since at least 2007.
“Hamas has publicly threatened to execute civilian hostages taken after the terrorist organization's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
“Mr. Al-Qalut heads the Cyber Impact Division of the Al-Qassam Brigades. He is responsible for working with Iranian institutions to procure servers and domains in Iran to host the official website of the Al-Qassam Brigades. I was involved.”
In addition to al-Qalut, William Abu Shanab, 56, and Bara'a Two others were also named: Hasan Farhat, 35. To gather.
Both Abu Shanab and his aide Farhat are said to be members of the Lebanon-based al-Shimari force, with the former serving as its commander.
Coinciding with the US action, the European Union last year imposed its own sanctions on the al-Qassam Brigades, al-Quds Brigades and Nuquba Force for “brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks” targeting Israel. imposed.
While the al-Quds Brigades are the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Nuhuba forces are Hamas' special forces.
Brian E. Nelson, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the purpose of the joint action was to “thwart Hamas' ability to conduct further attacks, including through cyberwarfare and the production of unmanned aerial vehicles.” Stated.
The development arrives a little more than two months after the U.S. government sanctioned six Iranian officials linked to Iranian intelligence for attacking critical infrastructure facilities in the United States and other countries.
