The U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management (OFAC) on Friday introduced sanctions in opposition to an official related to Hamas for his involvement in cyber affect operations.
Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut, 39, also referred to as Abu Ubaida, has served as the general public spokesperson of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the navy wing of Hamas, since no less than 2007.
“He publicly threatened to execute civilian hostages held by Hamas following the terrorist group’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel,” the Treasury Division mentioned.
“Al-Kahlut leads the cyber influence department of al-Qassam Brigades. He was involved in procuring servers and domains in Iran to host the official al-Qassam Brigades website in cooperation with Iranian institutions.”
Alongside Al-Kahlut, two different people named William Abu Shanab, 56, and Bara’a Hasan Farhat, 35, for his or her function within the manufacturing of unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs) utilized by Hamas to conduct terrorist operations, together with city warfare and intelligence gathering.
Each Abu Shanab and his assistant Farhat are mentioned to be a part of the Lebanon-based al-Shimali unit, the place the previous is a commander.
Coinciding with the actions taken by the U.S., the European Union imposed sanctions of its personal in opposition to Al-Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades, and Nukhba Pressure for his or her “brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks” focusing on Israel final yr.
Whereas Al-Quds Brigades is the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Nukhba Pressure is a particular forces unit of Hamas.
The joint motion, mentioned Below Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Monetary Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, is aimed toward “disrupting Hamas’s ability to conduct further attacks, including through cyber warfare and the production of UAVs.”
The event arrived a bit of over two months after the U.S. authorities sanctioned six Iranian officers related to the Iranian intelligence company for attacking important infrastructure entities within the U.S. and different nations.
