The United States and Gulf nations have stepped up efforts to curb the flow of revenue allegedly going to Hamas through its secret investment portfolio.
Brian Nelson, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence made the announcement on Wednesday.
Nelson told an emergency meeting of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center in Riyadh that the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council members should come together to address “terrorist financing” in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel.
“Hamas financiers have long enjoyed unimpeded access to many jurisdictions and likely their financial systems.
“We need to better understand these networks, and more importantly, stop this activity if it is occurring in our jurisdictions.’’
A U.S. official was cited by CNN on Tuesday saying the Palestinian group is suspected to have between 400 million dollars and one billion dollars in investment.
It said it included companies operating in Sudan, Algeria, Turkey and the UAE.
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