The French government has frozen the assets of Hamas leader Yahya Zinwar in her country. The 61-year-old is believed to be the mastermind of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7. The assets of another leader – Mohammed Deif – had previously been frozen.
There was initially no information about the size of the assets. Hamas leader Yahya Zinwar has been on the American terrorist list for years. He was sentenced to life imprisonment four times for the murder of two Israeli soldiers and was imprisoned in Israel for a total of 23 years. There he learned Hebrew and established himself as a leader of the prisoners. He was released in 2011 and was one of a thousand Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. In 2017, Hamas chose him as leader in the Gaza Strip after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh became head of the organization and went into exile.
The US and Britain imposed sanctions
The French government had already frozen the assets of another Hamas leader in November. French State Secretary Laurence Boone also called for sanctions against Hamas at EU level. The US and British governments have also imposed sanctions on senior Hamas officials. Examples of this are an arms embargo and a travel ban.
The war between the Israeli army and Hamas has been going on for eight weeks. On October 7, hundreds of fighters from the terrorist organization entered Israel and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians. According to Israeli figures, about 1,200 people were killed and another 240 were taken hostage. In response, Israeli forces began massive attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas figures, which cannot be independently verified, almost 15,900 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since then, most of them civilians.
Source: Krone
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