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Israeli Army Chief Heads to US to ‘Reinforce Armies’ against Iranian Security Threats 

From right to left: Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. (EPA)
From right to left: Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. (EPA)
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Israeli Army Chief Heads to US to ‘Reinforce Armies’ against Iranian Security Threats 

From right to left: Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. (EPA)
From right to left: Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. (EPA)

Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi will kick off a visit to the United States on Sunday to discuss the security challenges in the region.  

This will be his second visit to the US since assuming his post and his last before leaving office on January 17.  

An Israeli army statement said he is set to meet with senior officials and officers to discuss reinforcing security in the Middle East, discuss security challenges in the region, topped by the threat posed by Iran, and strengthen cooperation between armies.   

During his five-day visit, he will meet convene with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, US Central Intelligence Agency William Burns, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other officials. 

Kochavi will visit the United States Central Command’s headquarters in Tampa (Florida) to conduct “a joint strategic assessment of the situation” with head of the US Central Command General Michael Corella and other senior officers.  

Last week, Corella visited Israel and met Kochavi as part of efforts to develop joint military capabilities against the recent threats in the Middle East, especially Iran.  

Israel’s outgoing defense minister Benny Gantz concluded on Friday a visit to Greece. There, he said Israel would continue to act against Iran’s efforts to establish “terrorist bases” on its borders. 

Gantz accused Iran of “being involved in the war against Ukraine” while it continues to support “terrorism” in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, and to develop its nuclear program. 

“Iran's nuclear program and the use of Iranian drones by Russian forces in Ukraine is evidence that the alleged aggression of Tehran continues to be a grave threat to the region and the world,” Gantz warned. 

“It is clear that the global threats we see today are only the seeds of the challenges that will develop and grow in the future, impacting national security, food supplies, immigration, and energy resources,” he continued.   

Gantz cited global and regional challenges that countries of the eastern Mediterranean are facing, such as the war in Ukraine and ongoing tensions with Iran.  

“The implications of the war in Ukraine are bleeding across national borders. The politics of extremism and terrorism are impacting countries around the world,” he said.  

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World

US Govt Uses Emergency Authority to Provide Tank Shells to Israel

An Isareli army (APC) Armored Personnel Carrier vehicle makes its way into the Gaza Strip at an undisclosed location near the border, 09 December 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Isareli army (APC) Armored Personnel Carrier vehicle makes its way into the Gaza Strip at an undisclosed location near the border, 09 December 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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US Govt Uses Emergency Authority to Provide Tank Shells to Israel

An Isareli army (APC) Armored Personnel Carrier vehicle makes its way into the Gaza Strip at an undisclosed location near the border, 09 December 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Isareli army (APC) Armored Personnel Carrier vehicle makes its way into the Gaza Strip at an undisclosed location near the border, 09 December 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Biden administration has used an emergency authority to allow the sale of about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

The State Department on Friday used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the tank rounds worth $106.5 million for immediate delivery to Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The shells are part of a bigger sale that was first reported by Reuters
on Friday that the Biden administration is asking the US Congress to approve. The larger package is worth more than $500 million and comprises of 45,000 shells for Israel’s Merkava tanks, regularly deployed in its offensive in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

As the war intensified, how and where exactly the US weapons are used in the conflict has come under more scrutiny, even though US officials say there are no plans to put conditions on military aid to Israel or to consider withholding some of it.
Rights advocates expressed concern over the sale, saying it doesn't align with Washington's effort to press Israel to minimize civilian casualties.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that the tank shells must immediately be provided to Israel in the national security interests of the United States, according to the Pentagon statement.
The sale will be from US Army inventory and consist of 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer (MPAT) tank cartridges and related equipment.

World

Fire in Hospital Near Rome Kills at Least 4

People walk next to fire engines parked at the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital, following a deadly fire, in Tivoli, around 30 km from Rome, Italy December 9, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
People walk next to fire engines parked at the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital, following a deadly fire, in Tivoli, around 30 km from Rome, Italy December 9, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
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Fire in Hospital Near Rome Kills at Least 4

People walk next to fire engines parked at the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital, following a deadly fire, in Tivoli, around 30 km from Rome, Italy December 9, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
People walk next to fire engines parked at the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital, following a deadly fire, in Tivoli, around 30 km from Rome, Italy December 9, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS

A fire broke out in a hospital on Rome's outskirts, killing at least four people and forcing the evacuation of the facility and its patients, officials said Saturday.

Patients in intensive care at St. John the Evangelist hospital in Tivoli were transferred immediately to other hospitals via ambulance, the Tivoli mayor’s office said in a statement. Less-critical patients were moved into a nearby municipal gymnasium pending transfer to other facilities, the Associated Press reported.

The blaze began late Friday and was eventually brought under control and four people were confirmed killed, the fire department said in a statement.

Video — released by the department — showed fire crews on ladders trying to reach the upper floors of the hospital as smoke billowed out.

World

Ukraine: Russian Missiles Kill One, Troops Press on Avdiivka

A Ukrainian soldier standing next to a military vehicle. (AP)
A Ukrainian soldier standing next to a military vehicle. (AP)
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Ukraine: Russian Missiles Kill One, Troops Press on Avdiivka

A Ukrainian soldier standing next to a military vehicle. (AP)
A Ukrainian soldier standing next to a military vehicle. (AP)

Russian warplanes fired 19 long-range missiles at targets in Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian in a central region, wounding eight and damaging an industrial facility and power lines, Ukrainian officials said.

On the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the war against Russia, Ukrainian officials said Moscow's forces pressed on with a drive to encircle the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka.

Officials also reported heavy battles in the northeast near Kupiansk, a town seized by Russian forces soon after their February 2022 invasion but later retaken by Ukraine.

The missile strike on Friday morning was the first big salvo Russia has fired at targets, including the Ukrainian capital, in weeks. Russia has mainly been using drones for its overnight attacks, according to Reuters.

One person was killed and eight injured in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak said on the Telegram messaging app. Two wounded were in serious condition.

Air defenses shot down 14 incoming missiles over the region outside Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk region, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments.

The strike damaged power lines, an unnamed industrial facility and more than 20 homes in the towns of Pavlohrad and Ternivka and two villages, Lysak said. Images from the site, posted on social media, showed buildings with damaged rooftops and shattered windows.

Russia used seven Tu-95 bombers to launch missiles at different regions across the country, the air force said.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said the Ukrainian capital had been targeted but that all the missiles were downed by air defenses as they approached.

Missile debris smashed windows and walls in private homes in the Kyiv region, Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said, with air alerts in force for two hours. Officials reported an earlier overnight missile attack on the northeastern Kharkiv region.

- PRESSING ON DEFENSIVE LINES

In Avdiivka, dominated by a vast coking plant, Ukraine's general staff said its forces had repelled 32 enemy attacks.

The head of the military administration in the town, less than 12 km (eight miles) from the outskirts of the Moscow-held regional capital of Donetsk, said Russian forces were "pressing on the entire defensive line around the town".

Moscow's forces have been inching forward on the flanks to try to cut supply lines.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Russian forces had suffered heavy losses around the town. He told national television Russian forces had dropped about 450 aerial bombs in the region and were bringing in reserves.

The Russian Defense Ministry rarely mentions Avdiivka in its reports, but the war blog Rybar said on Friday that battles were raging by the coking plant and near Stepove village north of the city. Rybar acknowledged that the front was all but unchanged.

Further north, Ukrainian military spokesperson Volodymyr Fitio said Russian forces were deploying more reserves in a drive on the village of Synkivka - seen as a foothold on any attempt to retake Kupiansk, 14 km (nine miles) distant.

World

French Prosecutors Order Le Pen to Stand Trial in EU Funding Scandal

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen - Reuters
Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen - Reuters
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French Prosecutors Order Le Pen to Stand Trial in EU Funding Scandal

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen - Reuters
Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen - Reuters

French prosecutors on Friday ordered far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen to stand trial over claims she used EU funds to finance party activities in France.

The former presidential candidate will in March be joined by 26 other members of the National Rally (RN) party in the dock, all accused of setting up a system for embezzling EU money to hire staff in France, AFP reported.

The fake jobs inquiry began in 2015, with prosecutors alleging that starting in 2004, National Front eurodeputies including Le Pen took part in the fake jobs scheme.

The accused include Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the co-founder of what became France’s most successful far-right party.

The party itself, as a legal entity, is suspected of receiving illicit funds, and of complicity in fraud.

Marine Le Pen was runner-up to Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections and could have another go in 2027. She was president of her party until 2021, and now leads its parliamentary group.

The charges against her are embezzlement and collusion in fraud.

The decision to go to trial was taken by two investigating magistrates from France’s financial crimes prosecuting unit.

The group is accused of using EU parliamentary funds to pay for assistants who in fact worked for the National Rally party, formerly called the National Front.

Le Pen, who stepped down as an MEP in 2017 after her election to the French parliament, has denied the claims.

The charges carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to double the alleged funds embezzled.

If convicted, the court could also declare Le Pen ineligible for office for up to 10 years – threatening her plan to make a fourth run for the French presidency.

The EU Parliament estimated in 2018 that 6.8 million euros ($7.3 million at today’s rates) had been embezzled from 2009 to 2017.

World

US, SKorea and Japan to Step Up Actions on NKorean Cyberthreats

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, center, speaks at a joint news conference with South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, right, and Japan's National Security Secretariat Secretary-General Takeo Akiba at the presidential office, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, center, speaks at a joint news conference with South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, right, and Japan's National Security Secretariat Secretary-General Takeo Akiba at the presidential office, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)
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US, SKorea and Japan to Step Up Actions on NKorean Cyberthreats

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, center, speaks at a joint news conference with South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, right, and Japan's National Security Secretariat Secretary-General Takeo Akiba at the presidential office, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, center, speaks at a joint news conference with South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, right, and Japan's National Security Secretariat Secretary-General Takeo Akiba at the presidential office, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)

The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed on new initiatives to respond to North Korea's threats in cyberspace, including satellite launches and cryptocurrency abuses, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday.
The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Saturday as Pyongyang warned that it would deploy more spy satellites.
Sullivan said the meeting followed up on commitments set forth at the Camp David trilateral summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in August, where leaders of the three allies pledged to deepen security and economic cooperation.
"We've also launched new trilateral initiatives to counter the threats posed by the DPRK, from its cybercrime and cryptocurrency money laundering to its reckless space and ballistic missile tests," Sullivan told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The allies' coordinated efforts would also target potential threats of economic coercion, Reuters quoted Sullivan as saying, and they have finalized work on a supply chain early warning system, agreed to at Camp David, in critical minerals and rechargeable batteries.
The Biden administration held the meeting at Camp David with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to project unity in the face of China's growing power and nuclear threats from North Korea.
North Korean state media said on Saturday that Pyongyang was determined to launch more spy satellites soon, calling space development part of its right to defend itself.
After talks with Sullivan and Japan's Takeo Akiba, South Korean national security adviser Cho Tae-yong said the three had also exchanged ideas on Ukraine and Middle East issues.

World

Biden Administration Presses Congress to Approve Tank Shells for Israel's War in Gaza

An Israeli soldier looks on from a Merkava tank while operating in a location given as Gaza - REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An Israeli soldier looks on from a Merkava tank while operating in a location given as Gaza - REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Biden Administration Presses Congress to Approve Tank Shells for Israel's War in Gaza

An Israeli soldier looks on from a Merkava tank while operating in a location given as Gaza - REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An Israeli soldier looks on from a Merkava tank while operating in a location given as Gaza - REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights

The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve the sale of 45,000 shells for Israel's Merkava tanks for use in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, according to a US official and a former US official.

The request is being made even as concerns grow about the use of US weapons in a war that has killed thousands of civilians in the Palestinian enclave since Israel responded to an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants, Reuters reported.

The potential sale, worth more than $500 million, is not part of President Joe Biden's $110.5 billion supplemental request that includes funding for Ukraine and Israel. It is under informal review by the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees, which allows members the privilege to stall the sale, or have informal discussions with the administration about concerns.

But the US State Department is pushing the congressional committees to quickly approve the transaction, said a US official and Josh Paul, a former State Department spokesperson, amid objections from rights advocates over the use of US-made weapons in the conflict.

"This went to committees earlier this week and they are supposed to have 20 days to review Israel cases. State (Department) is pushing them to clear now," Paul told Reuters.

A State Department spokesperson said as a matter of policy, "we do not confirm or comment on proposed defense transfers or sales until they have been formally notified to Congress."

Reuters could not establish why the State Department would be pushing to clear the sale quickly.

The administration is also weighing using Arms Export Control Act (AECA) emergency authorities to allow a portion of the ammunition, 13,000 of the 45,000 shells, to bypass the committee and review period, the US official said, although a final decision was yet to be made.

Online images of the war show that Israel regularly deploys Merkava tanks in its Gaza offensive and on its southern border with Lebanon, where skirmishes have erupted since Oct. 7.

The tanks are also linked to incidents that involved the death of journalists.

On Thursday, a Reuters investigation revealed that an Israeli tank crew killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six reporters by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling.

Israel has sharply increased strikes on the Gaza Strip since a seven-day-long truce ended a week ago, pounding the length of the Palestinian enclave and killing hundreds in a new, expanded phase of the war that Washington said veered from Israeli promises to do more to protect civilians.

World

Biden Ducks Questions On Son Hunter's Tax Charges

US President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House - AFP
US President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House - AFP
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Biden Ducks Questions On Son Hunter's Tax Charges

US President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House - AFP
US President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House - AFP

US President Joe Biden kept silent Friday over new charges accusing his troubled son Hunter of avoiding tax while spending millions on an "extravagant lifestyle" including drugs and escorts.

Wearing sunglasses and a dark suit, the president waved to reporters but made no comment when asked if he believed his son was innocent, as he left the White House to board his Marine One helicopter for a trip to Nevada and California, according to AFP.

The Democrat leader, who is seeking reelection next year, will unveil major rail investments including the United States' first high-speed train, between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, before taking part in campaign receptions.

Hunter Biden was indicted on multiple counts on Thursday of evading at least $1.4 million in tax between 2016 and 2020, the second time he has been charged by a special counsel investigating his personal and business dealings.

"The defendant spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle at the same time he chose not to pay his taxes," special counsel David Weiss said in the indictment.

"The defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes."

The previous charges accuse Hunter Biden of lying about his drug use on a federal application when he purchased a gun.

The new charges serve up more embarrassment for Joe Biden as he heads for a likely rematch with Donald Trump next year, and fends off a Republican bid to impeach him on grounds that he benefited from his son's overseas business dealings.

Hunter Biden, 53, is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction.

World

Macron Condemns Israeli Settler Violence in Call with Netanyahu

A truck drives past a settler's termporary shelter at a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of annexed east Jerusalem on December 7, 2023. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
A truck drives past a settler's termporary shelter at a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of annexed east Jerusalem on December 7, 2023. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
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Macron Condemns Israeli Settler Violence in Call with Netanyahu

A truck drives past a settler's termporary shelter at a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of annexed east Jerusalem on December 7, 2023. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
A truck drives past a settler's termporary shelter at a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of annexed east Jerusalem on December 7, 2023. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
Macron's Elysee office said the two held a phone call on Friday, during which Macron had also reaffirmed the need to protect the civilian population of Gaza and had told Netanyahu of the importance of reaching a lasting ceasefire deal.
While Macron reiterated France's solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism, he nevertheless told Netanyahu to "take the necessary measures" to end the attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has condemned violence against Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, saying in a state of law, only the police and the military had the right to use force.

World

US Imposes New Human Rights-related Sanctions

FILE - The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FILE - The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
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US Imposes New Human Rights-related Sanctions

FILE - The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FILE - The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

The United States issued fresh human rights-related sanctions on Friday targeting individuals in multiple countries, including Iran, according to a post on the US Department of Treasury website.

The new sanctions target Chinese, Iranian individuals and others under the Global Magnitsky Act program, which freezes the assets of those who US officials believe are involved in human rights abuses and blocks Americans from doing business with them.

“Our commitment to upholding and defending human rights is sacrosanct,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “Abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms—wherever they occur in the world—strike at the heart of our shared humanity and our collective conscience. Treasury’s targeted sanctions announced today and over the past year underscore the seriousness of our commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abuse and safeguarding the US financial system from those who commit these egregious acts.”

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Iranian intelligence officers Majid Dastjani Farahani and Mohammad Mahdi Khanpour Ardestani.

It said they have recruited individuals for various operations in the US, to include lethal targeting of current and former US Government officials as revenge for the death of Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.

“Farahani and Ardestani also recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States,” it said.

World

Official: EU Expected to Adopt Further Sanctions Against Hamas

Demonstrators lift flags of the Palestinian Hamas group during a rally after the Friday prayer in Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on December 8, 2023, protesting Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Demonstrators lift flags of the Palestinian Hamas group during a rally after the Friday prayer in Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on December 8, 2023, protesting Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
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Official: EU Expected to Adopt Further Sanctions Against Hamas

Demonstrators lift flags of the Palestinian Hamas group during a rally after the Friday prayer in Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on December 8, 2023, protesting Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Demonstrators lift flags of the Palestinian Hamas group during a rally after the Friday prayer in Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on December 8, 2023, protesting Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

A senior EU official said on Friday he expected the bloc to adopt further sanctions against Hamas in the coming weeks.

"I'm pretty sure that the sanctions on Hamas will be adopted in the next couple of weeks, something like that," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The EU on Friday put two Hamas commanders on its terrorist list.

The two individuals are Mohammed Deif, Commander General of the military wing of Hamas, and his deputy Marwan Issa, the EU said.

Effective Friday, the two commanders are subject to the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in EU member states, while EU operators are prohibited from providing funds and economic resources to them.