The United States has designated Ismail Haniya, the senior political leader of Hamas, as a “global terrorist”.
The US State Department issued a press release on Wednesday saying that Haniya “has close links with Hamas’ military wing” and “has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians”.
Hamas is the Palestinian political movement that governs the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. The movement is premised on a strategy of armed struggle against the Israeli occupation, and has a military wing known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Haniya, 54, was elected to be the group’s political chief in May 2017.
Born in a refugee camp in Gaza, the leader has long seen been seen as pragmatic and flexible in his attitudes towards Israel and support for a Palestinian state, alongside the Israeli one.
The State Department accused Hamas of being involved in attacks that have resulted in the killing of 17 Americans since the group’s founding in 1987.
Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, said this designation raises the possibility of the US placing Haniya on trial.
“His [US-based] financial assets are going to be frozen. There will be a travel ban on him, and this possibly makes it easier for the US Justice Department to try to bring him to trial for his alleged role in the deaths of these 17 Americans”.
Haniya’s placement on the “terror list” also means that there will be a ban on any US citizen or company from doing business with him.
Source: Al jazeera
