8/15/2024 10:02 AM

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has imposed sanctions on 18 tankers involved in transporting oil belonging to the designated terrorist organization Quds Force

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has imposed sanctions on 18 tankers involved in transporting oil belonging to the designated terrorist organization Quds Force, the sale proceeds of which serve as a key element in financing and strengthening the terrorist organizations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas.

As part of the economic campaign led by the defense establishment against the terrorist organizations, among them Quds Force, Hezbollah and Hamas, the Defense Minister has imposed sanctions on 18 tankers involved in transporting oil belonging to the designated terrorist organization Quds Force, the sale proceeds of which are used to finance and strengthen the terrorist organizations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas - this following intensive activity of the defense establishment and the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) in the Ministry of Defense.

The Defense Minister's sanctions expose a key financing axis of the Quds Force terrorist organization and its proxies. The oil originates in the Iranian regime's allocations to Quds Force, which transports the oil in tankers under a legitimate façade, in an effort to circumvent international sanctions in the context of terror financing, using methods that constitute a violation of maritime safety and environmental laws, in order to sell the oil to a wide range of countries.

Senior officials in the Hezbollah terrorist organization are involved in transporting and selling the oil, among them Mohammed Qassam Albasel (also known as Haj Moein), who is in charge of the organization's financing axes, Mohammed Kazir (also known as Sheikh Salah), who leads Hezbollah's financing axes vis-à-vis the Iranian Quds Force and the businessman Baraa Katerji.

The Defense Minister's sanctions on the oil tankers are another layer in the efforts of the Israeli defense establishment to broaden the damage and disruption to the terror financing axes of Iran and Quds force, as part of the broad campaign against the terrorist organizations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas.