House passes bill to sanction Hamas
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday that calls for sanctioning Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups.
House Resolution 1850, the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act, is asking “to impose sanctions with respect to foreign support for Palestinian terrorism, and for other purposes.”
Sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida), the bill directs the president to submit an annual report to Congress, identifying “each foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state that... knowingly assists in, sponsors, or provides significant financial or material support” for “Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or any affiliate.”
The legislation directs the president to impose at least two different financial sanctions on the people or agencies that are identified as assisting these terror groups.
The bill also requires the president to report to Congress on each government that provides support for acts of terrorism and provides material support to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any affiliate organization.
A foreign government that supports the terrorist organizations could face foreign aid being cut off. The president could waive the obligation for imposing sanctions on a caseby-case basis.
Mast, who volunteered for the IDF after his US army service, said “radical Islamic terrorists, like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to reign terror on innocent people around the world. Hamas is single-handedly responsible for the deaths of numerous Americans and Israelis. These sanctions send a strong message to anybody who supports these radicals preaching the destruction of Israel and death to everything we hold dear in the United States.”