US sanctions four Gaza flotilla activists over alleged Hamas support

Washington (ANTARA) – The United States Department of the Treasury has formally imposed sanctions on four individuals over their alleged involvement with a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. ‘Today, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury took action against four individuals connected with the pro-Hamas flotilla, organised by the Palestinian Advocacy Organisation Abroad (PCPA), for attempting to enter Gaza to support Hamas,’ the Treasury said in a press release on Tuesday.

The sanctions were imposed on Saif Hashim Kamel Abukishe as the organising committee, Hisham Abdallah Sulayman Abu Mahfuz as acting secretary-general and president of PCPA, Mohammed Khatib as the Europe coordinator in Belgium for fundraising on the Samidoun platform, and Jaldia Abubakra Aueda as the Samidoun coordinator in Spain.

Additional sanctions were also applied to the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, the Hasm movement based in Egypt, and Hamas, the department said. The flotilla convoy, carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, departed from Barcelona on 15 April.

Then, on 29-30 April, the flotilla activists said Israeli forces seized their ships near Crete, Greece and damaged their engines and navigation systems. The organisers of the humanitarian convoy said their fleet was surrounded and subjected to forced interception by Israeli warships in international waters, roughly 250 nautical miles from the Gaza coast.

Source: Sputnik/RIA Novosti