LONDON (Reuters) -Britain sanctioned senior leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and its financiers on Tuesday in response to the group’s attack on Israel last month.
The sanctions were coordinated with similar measures in the United States.
“We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt the abhorrent activity of this terrorist organisation, working with the United States and our other allies, making it harder for them to operate and isolating them on the world stage,” Britain’s newly-appointed foreign minister David Cameron said in a statement.
The government said political leader Yahya Sinwar was among individuals from the group’s political and military wings targeted by the new sanctions.
The government, which has proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation, said it has imposed sanctions including travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes, on four senior Hamas leaders and two of the group’s financiers.
The announcement comes after the United States imposed a third round of sanctions on Hamas, also targeting leaders and financiers.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would continue to work with its partners, including Britain, to “deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out its atrocities.”
(Reporting by Muvija M; editing by William James and Kylie MacLellan)