The UK and US have imposed coordinated sanctions on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad today in order to disrupt the terrorist group’s financial networks, Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced in London today.

Five key figures and an entity involved in the leadership and financial networks of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are the subject of the UK’s new sanctions, which will help to cut off the flow of funding that supports these terrorist groups, including from Iran.

Today’s announcement is the third round of sanctions imposed on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad by the British government following the 7th October attacks on Israel, which build on existing sanctions against the groups.

The UK is committed to working with partners to tackle Iran’s destabilising activities in the Middle East, including its long-term support to terrorist and militant groups.

Today’s sanctions target Zuheir Shamlakh, a man with an infamous reputation as Hamas’s ‘main money changer’ since 2019, and a key figure in the group’s shift towards cryptocurrencies.

Shamlakh exploited digital currencies and existing systems of informal money transfers to move large sums of money from Iran to Hamas ahead of the tragic 7 October attacks. This underground financial network uses legitimate businesses as a front to conceal the flow of terrorist funding.

Those now subject to UK asset freezes and targeted arms embargoes include:

• Zuheir Shamlakh: a key Hamas financier including through his company Al Mutahadun for Exchange
• Ahmed Sharif Abdallah Odeh: a key operator in Hamas’s financial network who previously ran their international portfolio of companies
• Ismail Barhoum: a member of Hamas’s Political Bureau in Gaza and the group’s governing Shura Council
• Hassan Al-Wardian: a senior leader of Hamas in the Bethlehem/West Bank region
• Jamil Yusuf Ahmad Aliyan: a senior PIJ official and representative based in Gaza

The above named individuals are also subject to a travel ban, and will be unable to enter the UK.

The UK, along with its G7 partners, has committed to take action to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities. The EU announced on Friday 19 January 2024 a new EU sanctions regime against Hamas and sanctioned 6 targets which had previously been sanctioned by the UK and US.

This is the third tranche of sanctions the UK has imposed against Hamas and its associates since 7th October under the UK’s International Counter-Terrorism sanctions regime.

Previous packages have targeted other top-ranking officials and financiers of Hamas.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron continues to work with allies and partners to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict. During his visit to Davos last week the Foreign Secretary spoke with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani.

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