UK Imposes Sanctions Targeting Hamas Financing

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

UK Imposes Sanctions Targeting Hamas Financing

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)

Britain on Monday sanctioned individuals linked to Hamas, including financiers and leaders of the Palestinian militant group, saying the measures would help cut off its funding including from Iran.

The move was taken in coordination with the United States.

The British sanctions target Zuheir Shamlakh, a man known as Hamas's "main money changer", and a key figure involved in the group's shift towards cryptocurrencies who helped transfer large sums of money from Iran to Hamas ahead of the group's Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Britain's foreign office said.

"These sanctions send a clear message to Hamas – the UK and our partners are committed to ensuring there is no hiding place for those financing terrorist activities," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.

The sanctions also target a senior official of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group.



Israel Arrests 2 Citizens on Suspicion of Working for Iran

 Iranians walk past an anti-Israel billboard bearing a sentence in Farsi reading "Palestine is victorious", at Tehran's Palestine square on January 22, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians walk past an anti-Israel billboard bearing a sentence in Farsi reading "Palestine is victorious", at Tehran's Palestine square on January 22, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Israel Arrests 2 Citizens on Suspicion of Working for Iran

 Iranians walk past an anti-Israel billboard bearing a sentence in Farsi reading "Palestine is victorious", at Tehran's Palestine square on January 22, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians walk past an anti-Israel billboard bearing a sentence in Farsi reading "Palestine is victorious", at Tehran's Palestine square on January 22, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli authorities say they have arrested two Israeli citizens for allegedly conducting missions on behalf of Iran, the latest in a string of similar cases announced in recent months.

A statement from the Israeli police and the Shin Ben internal security agency on Monday said that Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreev, residents of northern Israel, were in contact with an Iranian agent and carried out various missions under his instruction.

The missions included passing on classified military material obtained during Eliasfov’s military service in an air defense unit. It said the suspects also spray-painted graffiti and hung banners with pro-Iranian messages in various locations across the country, all allegedly in return for financial compensation.

The prosecution is expected to file an indictment against them in the coming days.

In September, an Israeli citizen was indicted for involvement in an Iranian assassination plot against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One month later, authorities arrested another Israeli who was allegedly involved in an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli scientist.

The Shin Bet says Iranian agents are known to use social media and promises of cash to try to enlist Israelis to carry out such missions.

Israel and Iran’s long-running shadow war has burst into the open over the past year, with the two countries directly exchanging fire in April and again in October.