Three names from Turkey are on a new list of Hamas supporters and financers jointly sanctioned by the US and UK.

Turkey has long been a safe haven for officials of Hamas, which remains engaged in a bloody war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

On December 13, the Department of the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) hit Hamas with a fourth round of sanctions.

“Today’s action targets key officials who perpetuate Hamas’s violent agenda by representing the group’s interests abroad and managing its finances. OFAC closely coordinated with the United Kingdom to concurrently designate several key Hamas officials,” the US Treasury said in a press release.

The sanctioned trio related to Turkey are two Hamas officials said to live in Turkey and a Turkish citizen.

The first of the trio is Jihad Muhammad Shaker Yaghmour, or Jihad Yaghmour, who serves as Hamas’s official representative to Turkey.

“He has organized and attended delegations with senior Hamas leaders, and is also involved in handling covert terrorist activities for the group,” OFAC said. While Yaghmour is involved in apparently legitimate cultural activities in Turkey, they serve as “a cover for his activities in support of Hamas”, it added.

“Hamas continues to rely heavily on networks of well-placed officials and affiliates, exploiting seemingly permissive jurisdictions to direct fundraising campaigns for the group’s benefit and funnelling those illicit proceeds to support its military activities in Gaza,” said the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.

The second sanctioned person related to Turkey is Turkey-based Haroun Mansour Yaqoub Nasser Al-Din, or Haroun Nasser Al-Din, the head of Hamas’s Jerusalem office.

“Working in coordination with Zaher Jabarin, he has been one of Hamas’s key financial operatives in Turkey. Haroun Nasser Al-Din has also been involved in a network that transferred funds from Turkey and Gaza to the Hamas command center in Hebron, West Bank, and worked with US-designated Hamas senior official Salih Al-Aruri to provide financial support to Hamas activities to further unrest in the West Bank,” OFAC said.

The third Turkey name is Turkish national Mehmet Kaya. “Kaya has been involved in multiple money transfers on behalf of Hamas over several years, ultimately providing tens of millions of dollars of financial services for Hamas,” the OFAC added.

“This action [bringing in the fourth package of sanctions] builds on OFAC’s recent joint designations with the United Kingdom on November 14, targeting Hamas leaders and financiers, as well as US actions on October 27, targeting sources of Hamas support and financing; October 18, targeting Hamas operatives and financial facilitators; and May 2022, designating officials and companies involved in managing Hamas’s secret international investment portfolio,” OFAC said.

Turkey, as well as its Arab ally Qatar, have sheltered Hamas officials for years.

While the US, UK and EU designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling AKP party has Islamist roots, defines the group as “freedom fighters”.

Turkey, a Nato member, has accused Israel of genocide and war crimes against the Palestinians that must be addressed by an international court, though Ankara also stands accused of committing war crimes in its military campaign against Kurdish groups in northern Syria. Israel invaded Hamas-run Gaza in response to the group’s October 7 cross-border attack in which more than a 1,000 people were slain.

According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, towards 19,000 Palestinians at least have been killed in Israeli attacks since the invasion and war began.

Separately, opposition Turkish lawmaker Hasan Bitmez, 54, died in Ankara City Hospital on December 14, two days after suffering a heart attack and collapsing in front of parliament as he finished a speech hitting out at the Turkish government's policy toward Israel and at Israel for its conduct in Gaza.

“Even if you escape the torment of history, you will not be able to escape the wrath of Allah,” Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of the Islamist Saadet Partisi, or Felicity Party, said at the end of a 20-minute speech before falling backwards and collapsing at the lectern.

Bitmez had been criticising Erdogan's AKP over Turkey's trade with Israel that has continued despite the war in Gaza and the Turkish leader’s angry rhetoric condemning the Israelis for their actions in the Palestinian territory.

"You allow ships to go to Israel and you shamelessly call it trade... You are Israel's accomplice," Bitmez said in his speech after placing a banner on the podium reading: "Murderer Israel; collaborator AKP".

"You have the blood of Palestinians on your hands, you are collaborators. You contribute to every bomb Israel drops on Gaza," he also declared before lawmakers during a debate over the foreign ministry's 2024 budget.