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EU adds two top Hamas commanders to ‘terrorist list’
Brussels said Mohammed Deif and his deputy Marwan Issa had been added to its sanctions list after they were linked directly to the 7 October attack.
Mourners attend the funeral of Gal Eizenkot, the son of Israeli government’s war cabinet member Gadi Eizenkot, who was killed in combat with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in Herzliya, on December 8, 2023. – Israel on December 7, 2023 announced the deaths of two more soldiers in combat in Gaza, bringing the total to 89 since it began its offensive. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP)
The European Union on Friday added two of Hamas’s top military commanders to its terrorist blacklist, linking them directly to the October 7 attacks on Israel.
Brussels said Mohammed Deif, 58-year-old commander general of the Hamas military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and his deputy Marwan Issa had been added to its sanctions list.
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“The two individuals are subject to the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in EU member states,” it said.
“It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to them.”
The statement, issued by the European Council, said the listing came in “response to the threat posed by Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.”
On October 7, Hamas fighters broke out of the Palestinian territory of Gaza and launched unprecedented attacks on Israeli troops and civilians, including revellers at a music festival and a kibbutz community.
Around 1,200 Israelis were killed and scores taken hostage.
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Israel responded by launching air and artillery strikes against Gaza and a military ground operation hunting for Hamas militants.
Weeks of fighting have left 17,177 people dead in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
© Agence France-Presse
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