WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate this week passed bipartisan sponsored bill targeting the use of civilians as human shields by the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
The ‘’ Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act’’, which had been previously passed by the House of Representatives in September, strengthens and expands the scope of economic and financial sanctions imposed by earlier legislation in 2015. It targets foreign governments that knowingly provide significant arms, combat or financial support to Hezbollah, as well as foreign individuals and companies that aid its fundraising or recruitment activities.
Among the key provisions are sanctions on foreign individuals and companies that aid Hezbollah’s funding and recruiting drives, including the provision of support to its media outlets, as well as sanctions that target Hezbollah’s criminal empire, especially its drug trafficking activities in Latin America.
The US president is also authorized to strengthen oversight procedures for American banks that maintain specific relationships with foreign banks who operate in parts of the world where there is a Hezbollah presence.
The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and in the House by Congressmen Ed Royce (R-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-NY).
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest pro-Israel group in the U.S., as well as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations commended the U.S. Senate for adopting the bill.
“The bill had 50 bipartisan Senate co-sponsors, and reflects the Senate’s broad consensus to punish all who engage in this inhumane and barbaric practice,” said Conference Chairman Arthur Stark and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein in a statement. “We eagerly await the bill’s swift passage through the House of Representatives, President Trump’s signature, and the vigilant implementation of this additional authority,” the added.