UK announces fresh Hamas sanctions as Sunak hints at Royal Navy role in Gaza aid
With Mahmoud Zahar, the Gaza-based co-founder of Hamas amongst those targeted, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron says terror group "can have no future in Gaza"
The UK has sanctioned seven further individuals linked to Hamas to “isolate them further”, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said.
In a targeted approach by Britain and the US, leaders and financiers of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), another group involved in the October 7 assault on Israel, have had sanctions imposed as part of a new package of restrictions announced on Wednesday.
Mahmoud Zahar, the Gaza-based co-founder of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, is among those targeted.
The Foreign Office said the sanctions would cut off access to finance through asset freezes and impose travel restrictions on those listed.
Hamas, a proscribed organisation in the UK, and PIJ have already been sanctioned by London.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested the Royal Navy could play a role in helping aid to reach Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza.
Lord Cameron said: “Hamas can have no future in Gaza.
“Today’s sanctions on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad will continue to cut off their access to funding and isolate them further. We will continue to work with partners to reach a long-term political solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace.”
Others targeted include Ali Baraka, Hamas’s head of external relations.
Officials in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Mr Baraka has publicly defended the 7 October attacks and sought to justify the taking of hostages.
Maher Obeid, a political leader who is said to have held senior positions in Hamas, and Akram al-Ajouri, the Syria-based deputy secretary general of PIJ and leader of its military wing, also feature on the list.
Financiers hit with sanctions include Khaled Chouman and Rida Ali Khamis, whom the Foreign Office said have channelled funds to Hamas through their Lebanon-based currency exchanges.
Aiman Ahmad Al Duwaik completes the list, with the FCDO citing him as an Algeria-based financier for Hamas whom the department says has helped run the organisation’s overseas investment portfolio.
Wednesday’s announcement follows a UK Government sanction package last month that targeted Hamas’s political leaders in Gaza, along with other top-ranking officials and financiers.
Attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists in October, which saw 1,200 people killed and more than 240 taken hostage, has triggered a bloody two-month war between Israel and Hamas.
Tel Aviv’s air and ground offensive has resulted in the deaths of more than 18,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.
Nearly 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been forced to flee their homes, and much of the northern part of the territory has been heavily shelled.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he had told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Tel Aviv was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”.
The United Nations’ General Assembly on the same day voted overwhelmingly to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, a move that was objected to by the US and abstained on by the UK.
Mr Sunak defended the decision not to back the UN resolution during an exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions.
He told the Commons the UK Government supports a “sustainable ceasefire” that would need to see Hamas no longer launching rockets towards Israel and releasing the remaining hostages.
The Prime Minister said he was “deeply concerned about the devastating impact of the fighting in Gaza on the civilian population” and that “too many people have lost their lives already”.
Mr Sunak told MPs that, during a conversation with Mr Netanyahu last week, he “pressed him on opening up” the Kerem Shalom crossing, a Gaza border point that lies at the junction of both Israeli and Egyptian jurisdiction, to allow more aid into the enclave.
He also said ministers are “actively exploring the opportunity for maritime corridors, something the UK is well-placed to lead”.
The Prime Minister added: “I can give my assurance that we will work night and day to get more aid to those who need it.”
Mr Sunak’s official spokesman told reporters the Navy could “potentially” be involved in the plan to deliver aid to Gaza by sea.
“We’re still exploring the possibility of using maritime routes to deliver aid in to Gaza,” the Downing Street spokesman said.
“We are still exploring the maritime routes, using some of our facilities and capabilities in the area.”
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