Cruz rolls out measure to sanction Hamas, freeze Iranian assets

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Israeli military ramps up ground operations, engaging Hamas fighters in Gaza

FOX News' Trey Yingst reports from southern Israel.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is rolling out a measure that would sanction every Hamas member known to the U.S. Treasury Department within two weeks of its passage and freeze Iran’s assets overseas, Fox News Digital has learned.

Cruz is expected to introduce the "Hamas Sanctions Act" on Monday afternoon, which would prohibit money from going into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The bill would sanction every Hamas member known to the U.S. Treasury Department within 15 days.

"The Biden administration has been indirectly and even directly funding Hamas and Hamas’s financiers in Iran," Cruz told Fox News Digital. "They poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip, despite knowing it would benefit Hamas terrorists."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attends a Senate Judiciary Committee markup in the Hart Building in Washington, D.C, on May 11, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

UN STILL DOES NOT LABEL, SANCTION HAMAS AS TERROR GROUP DESPITE MURDEROUS ATTACKS

The bill would sanction Hamas and its affiliates for using human shields, while also going after Hamas' safe havens in Qatar and Turkey. The bill would also impose sanctions on every hotel, landlord or bank that provides services to Hamas militants and its leaders.

The bill would also require President Biden to deliver a regular update on whether Qatar or Turkey qualify as state sponsors of terrorism for hosting Hamas.

Cruz said the Biden administration has "allowed roughly $100 billion to flow to the Iranian regime by unfreezing accounts and refusing to enforce oil sanctions, which the Ayatollah passed on to Hamas."

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"The administration also refuses to enforce sanctions against Hamas for terrorism or for the use of human shields, or against those who provide Hamas leaders with safe haven in violation of sanctions," Cruz said.

Cruz’s bill would also enforce sanctions on Iran, freezing the country's assets overseas.

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In September, the Biden administration made a deal with Iran to swap prisoners and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

The bill would refreeze the $6 billion, which sits in a bank account in Qatar. It would also freeze $10 billion of Iranian assets in an account in Oman.

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The Biden administration maintains that the funds in Qatar have not been accessed amid criticisms from both GOP and Democrat lawmakers.

"The United States must stand with Israel in every way, for as long as it takes them to utterly eradicate Hamas, and the Hamas Sanctions Act is a necessary part of that effort," Cruz said.