EU adds Hamas Gaza leader Sinwar to 'terrorist' list

AFP | Brussels                                                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The European Union yesterday added Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar to its "terrorist" sanctions blacklist over the October 7 attacks on Israel. The move means that the accused mastermind of the attacks is subject to an asset freeze in the 27-nation bloc and bans EU citizens conducting transactions with him.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is already listed as a "terrorist" organisation by the EU. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the move in a statement. The decision is a result of "our diplomatic efforts to strangle the resources of the Hamas, to delegitimize them and prohibit all support to them.

We will continue to eradicate the root of evil, in Gaza and wherever it raises its head,” Katz said. Sinwar, 61, has not been seen since October 7. After the attacks, Israel's military declared Sinwar a "dead man walking". The Hamas chief was added to the US list of the most wanted "international terrorists" in 2015, as was Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, who is another alleged October 7 mastermind.

The EU has struggled for a united response to the Hamas's attacks and Israel's subsequent devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip. At least 24,285 Palestinians, about 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, have been killed in Gaza in Israeli bombardments and ground operations since October 7, according to the Hamas government.