The United States announced on Tuesday that it has sanctioned leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups as part of amending an executive order to strengthen and expand the U.S. State and Treasury departments’ authority to target terrorists and their supporters.
Those leaders include Marwan Issa, deputy commander of the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the operational arm of Hamas; Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Higher Military Council, and a commander of the Gaza and North Battalion in the Al-Quds Brigade; and Ali Karaki, a senior leader within Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, which was allegedly responsible for military operations in southern Lebanon.
Also on the list is Muhammad Haydar, a senior leader within Hezbollah’s Jihad Council who allegedly ran the U.S.-designated terrorist group’s networks outside of Lebanon; appointed leaders of various units; and was very close to the late senior Hezbollah official Imad Mughniyah.
Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah Jihad Council member, oversaw Hezbollah’s specialized weapons units in Syria, including its missile and rocket unit. He serves as a senior military adviser to Hezbollah senior Hassan Nasrallah, and played a central role in the planning and execution of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, in Beirut, which killed 241 U.S. service personnel.
And Ibrahim ‘Aqil, a senior Hezbollah Jihad Council member, is the terrorist group’s military operations commander.
Other leaders targeted are affiliated with the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban—all U.S.-designated terrorist groups.
