In one of the latest legal developments from the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on Friday, issued sanctions against the Hamas Cyber Operations Unit.
The Hamas Unit is identified to be responsible for conducting offensive cyber and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. The actions aimed to disrupt Hamas’s ability to conduct future attacks in these strategic domains.
These sanctions are authorized under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, a measure enacted by the U.S. government post-9/11 to levy sanctions against terrorist organizations and their associates.
U.S. Issues Sanctions Against Hamas Cyber Operations
These recent sanctions form part of a broader series of measures undertaken by OFAC and its international counterparts, with the previous sanctions targeting various aspects of Hamas’s infrastructure, including financial networks, facilitators, leadership, and operatives.
However, the April sanctions zero in on cyber operations and UAV capabilities signaling that governments have come to recognize of the evolving landscape of modern warfare amidst on-going conflicts.
The key individuals named in the sanctions include: Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut (al-Kahlut) also known as “Abu Ubaida”, who leads the cyber influence department of the 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. William Abu Shanab (Abu Shanab), who previously served as an operative in the unit’s UAV cell after undergoing training in Iran and Southeast Asia.
He is believed to be heavily involved in the manufacture of the UAVs used by Hamas to conduct offensive operations. Additionally the statement mentions an assistant of Abu Shanab, Bara’a Hasan Farhat who also aids in the group’s UAV operations.
Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, reiterated Washington’s commitment to dismantling Hamas networks, with a particular emphasis on the cyber domain. He emphasized upon the collaborative efforts taken with international partners to disrupt Hamas’s operations.
European Union Joins Action with Sanctions Against Armed Groups
The sanction statement reads that all property and assets in possession in the U.S. of the above-mentioned individuals believed to be part of Hamas cyber operations, are blocked and should be reported to OFAC. These restrictions include assets within the country believed to be partially in control of these individuals.
The European Union on Friday took simultaneous action against Hamas by adding three armed groups to its sanctions list. These EU stated the sanctions were based on the alleged involvement of these groups in perpetuating sexual violence on October 7th 2023. The sanctioned entities include the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a special forces unit of Hamas called the Nukhba Force and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.
The EU sanctions restrict at least 104 individuals and 26 entities associated with the groups from owning assets, raising funds or traveling within the boundaries of the EU.
Both sets of sanctions come amidst the United States on-going efforts to exchange hostages held by Hamas through the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, through mediators in Egypt and Qatar. Hamas has reportedly stated that it did not believe there were enough releases in order to facilitate the exchange.
As part of the broader cyber-aspect of the conflict, The Cyber Av3ngers — an Iran-associated threat actor group threatened to launch further attacks on Friday, without any further details. The group was responsible for various attacks on U.S. water utilities, with the U.S. government sanctioning six Iranian government officials believed to be tied to the campaign.
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