Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has sanctioned an Al Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip that early this year declared support for the ISIL.

The State Department has announced sanctions on the Mujahadin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem. The department identified Mujahadin as the focus for jihadist militias in the Gaza Strip.

“The Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem is an umbrella group composed of several jihadist terrorist sub-groups based in Gaza that has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Israel since the group’s founding in 2012,” the State Department said.

“In addition to these physical attacks, the MSC released a statement in February 2014 declaring support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.”

In a statement on Aug. 19, the State Department said the United States would freeze assets of Mujahadin as well as ban any contact by Americans with the group. The statement did not say whether Mujahadin held assets in the United States.

“The Department of State took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and the Treasury,” the State Department said.

Mujahadin has claimed responsibility for rocket fire from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The group was said to have targeted such Israeli cities as Eilat and Sderot.

“In addition to the rocket launches, MSC declared itself responsible for a Gaza-Israel cross-border IED attack on June 18, 2012 that targeted an Israeli construction site, killing one civilian,” the State Department said.

  ISIL, Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, U.S. sanctions Gaza terror group that declared support for ISIL, U.S. State Department