Leavey said the Gaza television station and bank were controlled by the
Hamas regime. He said the bank, located in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, was
used by Hamas officials to maintain the Gaza Strip, captured by the Islamic movement in 2007.
In a March 18 statement, Treasury said Hamas established the bank in
April 2009 with $20 million of initial capital. Treasury said Hamas has
opened thousands of accounts for its members at the bank, whose senior
management comes from the Islamic movement.
Officials said the sanctions ban U.S. companies from dealing with Al
Aqsa or Islamic National. They said any funds by these two entities found in
the United States would be frozen.
Treasury said Hamas was using Islamic National to store cash smuggled
from outside the Gaza Strip. In May 2009, Treasury said, Hamas relayed $1.5
million to the bank to pay salaries of security forces.
Al Aqsa TV was founded by Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad, a senior
member of the movement's military wing. Hamad was identified as supervising
the construction of smuggling tunnels for Hamas and encouraging the assembly
of weapons for use against Israel.
"Consistent with our commitment to a well-regulated and transparent
financial system in the Palestinian territories, Treasury will continue to
expose Hamas's efforts to create institutions with the trappings of
legitimacy that are in fact controlled by and used to support a terrorist
organization," Levey said.
