BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday 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 having his assets frozen in the 27-nation bloc and bans EU citizens from conducting transactions with him.
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is already listed as a terrorist organization by the EU.
The October attacks, the worst in Israel’s history, resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Militants also dragged about 250 hostages back to Gaza, 132 of whom Israel says are still in the Palestinian territory, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the move.
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 in a statement.
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 U.S. list of the most wanted “international terrorists” in 2015, as was Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and another alleged October 7 mastermind.
The EU has struggled for a united response to the Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip.
At least 24,285 Palestinians, about 70% 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.
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