1/16/2024–|Last updated: 1/17/202412:08 AM (Mecca time)
On Tuesday, the Council of the European Union included the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, on the EU’s terrorist list, in addition to imposing sanctions on him. While the Israeli Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision, a Hamas leader described it as bias towards the occupation and a ridiculous decision.
The Council of the European Union said – in a statement on its website – “The Council decided today to add one individual to the Union’s terrorist list, namely Yahya Sinwar, the political leader of the Hamas movement,” becoming the third leader of the movement included on the same list.
This came after the European Union announced last December that two of the movement’s leaders had been included on the list: Muhammad al-Deif, chief of staff of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and Marwan Issa, al-Deif’s deputy.
The federation explained that the decision is part of its response to what it called “the threat posed by Hamas and its attacks, which it describes as terrorist and indiscriminate, in Israel on October 7, after it launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to the Israeli occupation’s attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities.”
Welcome and ridicule
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz welcomed the European Union’s decision and described it as “just and moral,” saying – via the “, according to his blog post.
For his part, Taher Al-Nono, media advisor to the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, accused the European Union of bias, calling for an end to the “policy of double standards,” saying – to Reuters – that “these sanctions are ridiculous and ridiculous, and everyone knows that Sinwar does not have any financial accounts.” In Palestine or outside it.
Al-Nono added, “Such a decision will have no value against Hamas, but the idea of imposing sanctions on the leaders of the resistance and Hamas that resist the occupation as a right guaranteed by international law is bias towards the occupation.”
Israel considers Sinwar the mastermind of the October 7 attacks – the “Al-Aqsa Flood” carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades, in light of the ongoing occupation battles in the Gaza Strip and its confrontations with the resistance factions there, and its continued aggression by bombing the areas of the Strip for the 102nd day, leaving 24,285 martyrs and 61,154 wounded, In addition to destroying residential buildings, vital facilities, and hospitals.
