US and UK impose sanctions on Hamas and Islamic Jihad

The US and UK have imposed sanctions aimed at Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), targeting leaders and financiers of the groups.

"The United States will continue to work with our partners, including the UK, to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out its atrocities," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Hamas’s actions have caused immense suffering and shown that terrorism does not occur in isolation. Together with our partners we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas’s financial infrastructure, cut them off from outside funding, and block the new funding channels they seek to finance their heinous acts."

Mahmoud Khaled Zahhar, a senior official Hamas, was among those sanctioned by Washington, as well as PIJ's representative to Iran, its Damascus-based deputy secretary general, and the leader of its military wing. 

Lebanon-based money exchange company Nabil Chouman & Co was also targeted, along with its owner and founder.

The US Treasury accused the company of having transferred tens of millions of dollars to Hamas.

The move freezes any US assets of those sanctioned, and generally bars any Americans from dealing with them.

The UK government confirmed it had added six new designations to its counter-terrorism sanctions list on Tuesday, including four individuals linked to Hamas.