U.S. Treasury Department Spokesperson for Hamas Cyber ​​Influence Operations

ReportApril 13, 2024Editorial DepartmentInternet influence/war

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on Friday against a Hamas-related official involved in a cyber influence operation.

Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut, 39, also known as Abu Ubaida, has served in Hamas’ military wing since at least 2007 Public spokesman for the Brigades of Izzeddin Kassam.

“Following the Hamas terrorist group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, he publicly threatened to execute civilian hostages held by Hamas,” the U.S. Treasury Department said.

“Kalut leads the Qassam Brigades’ cyber influence unit. He is involved in procuring servers and domain names in Iran to host the official Qassam Brigades website in collaboration with Iranian agencies.”

In addition to Al-Kahlut, there were two others, William Abu Shanab, 56, and Bara’a Hasan Farhat, 35 ), collected for their role in building unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by Hamas to conduct terrorist operations, including urban warfare and intelligence.

Abu Shanab and his assistant Farhat are said to be members of the al-Shimali force in Lebanon, with the former serving as its commander.

Alongside the US action, the European Union also imposed sanctions over the “brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks” against Israel last year by the Qassam Brigades, Quds Force and Nukhba Forces.

The Quds Force is the armed force of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while the Nuhba Force is the special forces of Hamas.

Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the joint operation was aimed at “disrupting Hamas’s ability to conduct further attacks, including through cyber warfare and the production of drones.” .

More than two months ago, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on six Iranian officials linked to Iran’s intelligence services for attacks on critical infrastructure entities in the United States and other countries.