Israel’s war on Palestine has killed at least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children—who represent 40% of the figure.
The Biden administration dispatched a United States Treasury Department official to Qatar and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to collaborate with regional counterparts to intervene in regional financial flows, stability in the region, and the facilitation of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel continues to pummel the enclave.
Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson engaged in discussions with key Qatari figures in Doha, including Qatar Central Bank governor Bandar Al Thani, Attorney General Issa bin Saad Al Nuaimi, and National Counterterrorism Committee officials.
The primary focus of these meetings was to explore technical strategies for tracking and disrupting attempts by organisations to raise funds through the Qatari financial system.
During that meeting, Nelson expressed his gratitude for the pivotal role Qatar has played in delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
He also said he will work with regional partners as the US Treasury Department to try and block the flow of funds to Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Under Secretary Nelson pledged to continue close coordination with partners in the region as Treasury works to disrupt the flow of funds to Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed malign groups,” the readout said.
The US has accused Iran of likely having knowledge of Hamas planning “operations against Israel,” however early US intelligence reports indicated that some Iranian leaders were caught by surprise when the Hamas attack on October 7 occurred.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Sunday dismissed claims connecting Iran to the attacks, calling them “baseless.”
“We always had political media and international support for Palestine. We have never denied this,” he said.
“This is the truth, but in relation to this operation called the Al Aqsa Storm, there was no connection to that data between Iran and this Hamas operation, not my government nor part of my country.”
Meanwhile, a short clip appearing to show Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah walking past the group’s yellow and green flag has sparked speculations this week.
According to Al Mayadeen, Nasrallah is scheduled to speak on Friday for the first time since the Israeli war on Gaza erupted. The latest developments come amid a flare up in cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.
Israel launched a brutal bombing campaign on Gaza more than three weeks ago and has since killed at least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children—who represent 40% of the figure.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding Arab resolution for a humanitarian truce in Gaza following an overwhelming majority vote of 120 members, including Qatar.
Israel and its main ally, the United States, which has blocked at least three other proposals that called for a humanitarian ceasefire amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, rejected the proposal.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have mainly targeted hospitals, residential buildings, schools since the beginning of the war. According to official numbers, they have killed mostly women and children.
On Sunday, Save the Children said more children have been killed in Gaza over the past three weeks than the annual number of those killed in conflicts globally since 2019.
In Riyadh, Nelson emphasised the vital role of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in maintaining regional stability. He welcomed efforts to prevent the Israeli war on Palestine from escalating and spreading to other parts of the region.
“Under Secretary Nelson stressed the important role of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in regional stability, and welcomed efforts to ensure that the conflict does not widen to elsewhere in the region,” the US press release read.
