Aden (South24) 

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Yesterday, on the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, the United States (US) Treasury Department announced sanctions on Yemeni businessman Hamid Abdullah Hussein Al-Ahmar and nine of his businesses, based on his prominent financial support of Hamas.

The US Treasury Department statement said that Al-Ahmar "lives in Türkiye and is one of the most prominent international supporters of Hamas. He is a key member of Hamas’s once-secret investment portfolio, which at its peak managed over $500 million".

The Treasury said that this huge financial portfolio "enabled Hamas’s leaders to live in luxury outside the Palestinian territories despite the real humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza."

"Since at least 2013, Al Ahmar has also been the chairman of the Lebanon-based Hamas sham charity Al-Quds International Foundation, which OFAC designated in October 2012 for being controlled by Hamas," the statement added.

“Al Ahmar is being designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hamas. Al Ahmar is also being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Al-Quds International Foundation. OFAC is also designating the following nine entities pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, al Ahmar:”

The designation included Al Ahmar Trading Group, Al Ahmar Oils Supply and Distribution, Sama International Media, and Al Salam Trading and Agencies General Establishment, all of which are based in Yemen.

The decision also included Czech-based Saba, Trade & Investment S.R.O., and Sabafon International SAL, a telecommunications company operating in areas controlled by the Yemeni government in Yemen but registered in Lebanon.

The designation also included the companies ’Sabaturk Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi‘, ’Vivid Enerji Yatirimlari Anonim Sirketi‘, and ’Investrade Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi‘, which are based in Türkiye and where Hamid Al-Ahmar resides.

In addition to Hamid Al-Ahmar, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Palestinian Majed Al-Zeer, Austrian Adel Doughman, and Jordanian Mohammad Hannoun.

The ministry said that Al-Zeer is a senior Hamas representative in Germany and played a central role in raising funds for the movement in Europe. It was reported that Doughman is responsible for Hamas’ activities in Austria and has been closely associated with senior Hamas leaders.

Meanwhile, the Italy-based Hannoun established a sham charity to support the movement’s military wing.

Hamid Al-Ahmar is a senior official in the Yemeni Islah Party, the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in the country. His father, the well-known tribal sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar, is the founder of the Islah Party and was Speaker of Yemen's House of Representatives between 1993 and 2007, and one of the key figures in the Yemeni unity regime between the North and South.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Islah party condemned the US sanctions on Hamid al-Ahmar and called on the Yemeni PLC, government and parliament to defend him.

Al-Ahmar is still officially a member of the Yemeni parliament today, and is head of The League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine.

Despite the strong family ties and partnerships that brought together Hamid Al-Ahmar, his father and his brothers with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Al-Ahmar’s family participated in the popular revolution in 2011 to overthrow Saleh’s rule.

In 2014, Hamid Al-Ahmar fled Sanaa after the Houthis took control of it. The Houthis raided his house and dozens of other houses of the Al-Ahmar family, who have historically maintained unparalleled political and tribal influence.

In South Yemen, Hamid Al-Ahmar is seen as a key figure in corrupt oil and gas deals in Hadramout and Shabwa, with the help and facilitation of the Yemeni regime. Southerners believe that most of Al-Ahmar’s wealth was made illegally through the exploitation of the natural resources of the South.