US announces sanctions against 10 Hamas members over Israel attack

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US “is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children”

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on members of Hamas (Patrick Semansky/AP/PA)

The US announced sanctions on Wednesday against a group of 10 Hamas members and the Palestinian militant organisation’s financial network across Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar as it responds to the surprise attack on Israel.

US President Joe Biden, who arrived in the Middle East late on Tuesday to show support for Israel, has tried to damp down tensions in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, but those efforts have faced setbacks, including a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed a reported 500 people.