US seeks to drum up Arab support to counter Hamas financing

Top US Treasury official is latest to visit Middle East as Washington launches renewed diplomatic efforts

Hamas militants take part in a rally in Gaza city in November 2016. AFP

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A top US Treasury official has urged a group of Arab nations to crack down on funding for Hamas and other terrorism-related financing as fears grow that the Israel-Gaza war could spread across the Middle East.

“Hamas’s atrocities have jeopardised regional stability and shown that terrorism does not occur in isolation. We are all impacted by terrorism and the violence it unleashes,” US Treasury undersecretary Brian E Nelson said in prepared remarks at the Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre in Riyadh on Monday.

“We cannot tolerate a world in which Hamas and other terrorist organisations’ fundraisers live and operate with impunity, abusing the financial system, to sustain their terror.”

The Treasury Department last week sanctioned 10 people linked to Hamas's financial operations while imposing additional sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile and drones programmes.

In his remarks, Mr Nelson said it would be a “disservice to the Palestinian people” not to condemn Hamas.

“From a financial standpoint, we can clearly see that Hamas has exacerbated economic hardships for decades in the Gaza Strip by diverting humanitarian assistance to support its campaign of terror, and we must publicly condemn these actions,” he said.

Mr Nelson also cautioned that other groups could cause the conflict to spill across the region.

“We are already seeing other actors launch attacks across the Middle East in Lebanon, Iraq and even in the Gulf,” he said.

President Joe Biden's administration has tried to walk the fine line of supporting Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, while at the same time trying to keep the conflict from spreading and underscoring the need to protect civilian life.

But Washington's diplomatic efforts have borne little fruit as thousands of Palestinians have been killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

Palestinians look for survivors of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Nusseirat refugee camp. AP

A survivor is found in the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

A man is given oxygen and pulled from the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

This desperate search for survivors is being replicated across the Gaza Strip. AP

Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media outside a Tel Aviv hospital after being released by Hamas. EPA

Israeli women who were held hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper (also known as Nurit Yitzhak), are released by the militants. Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron before their talks in Jerusalem. AP

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Palestinians inspect the damage of a destroyed house that was hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis. AP

Ms Cooper and Ms Lifshitz arrive at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre after being released by Hamas on Monday. AFP

A woman cries next to the rubble of a building after Israeli strikes on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. AFP

Wateen, a 14-month-old Palestinian baby, who was wounded in an Israeli strike that killed her mother and injured her twin brother Ahmed, recovers at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Reuters

A Palestinian girl clutches salvaged books as people look for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis. AFP

People mourn during the funeral of members of the Abu Morad family who died following Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis. AFP

A wounded Palestinian man arrives at Nasser Medical Complex, following Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AP

Red Crescent Society employees sort humanitarian aid bound for Palestinians in Gaza, at a warehouse in Arish, Egypt. EPA

Ayman Abou Chamalah stands next to his daughter Mecca as she receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah. AFP

Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of Erik Kraunik, chief of security in the kibbutz of Be'eri, during his funeral at a cemetery in Yehud, Israel. AP

A man sits among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israel's bombardment of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A Red Crescent worker sorts aid for Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the blockaded enclave. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take part in a drill near the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. EPA

Men fill fuel containers with drinking water in Rafah. AFP

Smoke billows over Gaza after an air strike, as seen from southern Israel. AP

A person holds a child as Palestinians gather in Khan Younis at the site of a house destroyed during an Israeli bombardment. Reuters

Israeli soldiers sit on top of a tank near the border with Gaza. Getty Images

Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis. Reuters

Palestinians are evacuated from a building in Rafah that was hit during Israel's bombardment. AP

Shahar Idan, 9, mourns during the funeral of his brother Maayan, 18, who was killed by Hamas gunmen in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz. His father Tzahi is being held hostage in Gaza. Reuters

Palestinian doctors treat a premature baby at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. AP

Rescue crews search for bodies after Hamas militants attacked the kibbutz of Be'eri in Israel. Getty Images

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid head to Deir Al Balah after crossing from Egypt through Rafah. Bloomberg

Palestinians evacuate survivors in Deir Al Balah after an Israeli bombardment. AP

Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes on Gaza. EPA

Israeli soldiers at a position along the border with Lebanon. EPA

A woman leans against the window of an ambulance outside Kuwait Hospital after an Israeli strike in Rafah. AFP

A Palestinian cries as the body of his daughter is recovered from beneath the rubble of a building destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Rafah. AFP

A convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Rafah after crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Bloomberg

The pictures of more than 1,000 people abducted or killed during the attack by Hamas militants are displayed on empty seats at Tel Aviv University. Getty

Palestinians are evacuated from buildings in Rafah after the bombardment of the Gaza Strip. AP

Israeli soldiers gather at an undisclosed location near the border with Gaza. EPA

Palestinians mourn outside a house in Gaza struck by Israel. Reuters

A bullet-riddled fridge in a house in the kibbutz of Kissufim in southern Israel, where 14 people were killed and four were abducted by Hamas militants on October 7. AP

Football fans inside Anfield stadium hold up Palestine flags during the Liverpool-Everton derby on Saturday. Reuters

Palestinians wounded in the bombardment of Gaza are taken to Al Asa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. AP

Rescuers search for victims and survivors in buildings destroyed by air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty

Residents of Tel Aviv show support for the families of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas. Reuters

Mr Biden's trip to Jordan was derailed after hundreds of people were killed during a Gaza hospital blast, for which Hamas and Israel blame each other.

And Secretary of State Antony Blinken was publicly lectured by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during the US diplomat's whirlwind trip to the region.

Most recently, a bipartisan cohort of US senators met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and top officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss humanitarian assistance and regional challenges.

Israel's blockade of Gaza has also brought on a humanitarian crisis, where civilians in the densely populated strip face water, fuel and food shortages. Meanwhile, aid is slowly being delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.

Mr Nelson co-led the TFTC's executive committee, whose members include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

TFTC aims to disrupt terrorist financing networks through sharing information and participating in actions to disrupt such financing.

Mr Nelson was also expected to meet Saudi national security officials before sitting down with Qatari officials in Doha.