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WASHINGTON: The US Treasury on Thursday froze the assets of Gaza-based Islamic National Bank and Al-Aqsa Television, saying they were "controlled" by Hamas which Washington has branded a terrorist group.
The INB provided financial services to Hamas members and employees, including members of its military wing, while the Al-Aqsa Television station was financed by the Islamist movement, the Treasury said in a statement.
The actions "freeze any assets INB or Al-Aqsa Television hold under US jurisdiction and prohibit US persons from engaging in any transactions with these parties."
"Consistent with our commitment to a well-regulated and transparent financial system in the Palestinian territories, Treasury will continue to expose Hamas' efforts to create institutions with the trappings of legitimacy that are in fact controlled by and used to support a terrorist organisation," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey.
The Treasury said INB operated outside the "legitimate" financial system and was not in compliance with Palestinian Authority banking or securities regulations.
It charged that Al-Aqsa was a primary Hamas media outlet, airing programmes and music videos designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood.
"Treasury will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself," Levey said.
Bahaa al-Madhun, secretary of Al-Aqsa group which controls Al-Aqsa television, said the Treasury decision was "a type crime and hindrance to the democracy that the United States brags about.
"It's a conspiracy against those who speak the truth," he told AFP.
He insisted that the channel was operating "in an absolute professional manner, conveying the message about the Palestinian suffering in a realistic way." - AFP/de
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