The European Union will adopt sanctions against Hamas in response to the Palestinian group’s deadly October 7 attack on Israel, France said on Thursday. Brussels will adopt “a regime of sanctions against Hamas”, said French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine, adding that they will target “individuals and transfers of funds”.
The punitive measures will target Hamas and some of its leaders involved in the unprecedented October 7 attacks against southern Israel that resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, as per an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants seized about 250 hostages during the October 7 attacks, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.
On January 16, the EU added Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar to its “terrorist” sanctions blacklist over the October 7 attacks. The move means that the accused mastermind of the attacks is subject to an asset freeze in the 27-nation bloc and bans EU citizens from conducting transactions with him.
In December, the EU added two of Hamas’s top military commanders, Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa, to its terrorist blacklist. Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is already listed as a “terrorist” organisation by the EU. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel is conducting relentless bombardment and a ground offensive that have killed at least 24,448 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, as per Gaza health ministry figures.
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