The US State Department placed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its terror blacklist on Wednesday in a move that threatened to further inflame tensions with Palestinians.
The 55-year-old, who became chairman of Hamas’s political bureau in May 2017 and was previously the prime minister of a breakaway Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, was made a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”.
The designation means any assets held by the Hamas leader in the United States will be frozen, while US citizens and businesses are now banned from doing business with him.
“Haniyeh has close links with Hamas’s military wing and has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians,” a State Department statement said.
