The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday announced sanctions against an official associated with Hamas for his involvement in cyber influence operations.
Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut, 39, also known as Abu Ubaida, has served as the public spokesperson of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, since at least 2007.
“He publicly threatened to execute civilian hostages held by Hamas following the terrorist group’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel,” the Treasury Department said.
Coinciding with the actions taken by the U.S., the European Union imposed sanctions of its own against Al-Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades, and Nukhba Force for their “brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks” targeting Israel last year.
While Al-Quds Brigades is the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Nukhba Force is a special forces unit of Hamas.
The development arrived a little over two months after the U.S. government sanctioned six Iranian officials associated with the Iranian intelligence agency for attacking critical infrastructure entities in the U.S. and other countries.
Source: https://thehackernews.com/
