US Sets Bounty for Capture of Hamas and Hezbollah Leaders

Washington is offering five million dollars for tracking down and capturing Saleh al-Arouri, head of Hamas’s political bureau, and Muhammad Harb and Haitham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah operatives. The US State Department says al-Arouri is also one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing.

A five million dollar bounty for tracking down and handing over Hamas and Hezbollah leaders; this is the reward that the US State Department is offering to those who locate Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, and Khalil Yusuf Muhammad Harb and Haitham Ali Tabatabai, senior commanders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

It has been announced that al-Arouri lives in Lebanon. The US State Department accuses him of collaborating with the Quds Force (the extraterritorial branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), an organization that with its financial aid supports Hamas military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Al-Arouri is also accused of involvement in numerous terrorist attacks, including the abduction of Naftali Fraenkel, an American citizen. Two senior Hezbollah operatives have also been accused of playing significant roles in this group’s military operations.

Hamas organization condemned the US decision to set a bounty for al-Arouri’s capture and said in a statement: “America’s action, following Palestinian resistance in Gaza, serves the occupying Israel.”

The US State Department previously added Jawad Nasrallah, son of Hezbollah’s leader, to the terrorist list and called him the “future leader of Hezbollah’s quasi-military forces.” In this department’s statement, it was mentioned that Jawad Nasrallah has been engaged in recruitment for participation in terrorist attacks against Israel in recent years.

This department has also included the “Mujahedeen Brigade,” which is close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, on the blacklist of terrorist organizations. The aforementioned brigade is accused of complicity with Hezbollah in a series of attacks against Israel.

In the US State Department’s statement, it was noted that the designation of Jawad Nasrallah and the Mujahedeen Brigade on the blacklist is to prevent them from planning and executing terrorist attacks. Assets and property of those who are placed on the US blacklist will be frozen and their transactions and dealings with American companies or citizens will be prohibited.

The US Treasury Department has also simultaneously sanctioned four Iraqi individuals for their connections with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. It is said that these four individuals, with Iranian assistance, collaborated with Lebanon’s Hezbollah for financial transactions, weapons supply, and other equipment provisions.

Source: DW