WASHINGTON (AP) – The Bush administration moved Tuesday to clamp down financially on a large charitable organization in Gaza for allegedly raising money and providing other support to Hamas, which America has branded as a terrorist group.

The Treasury Department’s action is against the Al-Salah Society and its director, Ahmad al-Kurd. As a result, any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the United States belonging to them must be frozen. People in America also are forbidden from providing money or doing business with them.

Treasury alleged that Al-Salah, located in the Palestinian territories of Gaza, supported Hamas-affiliated combatants and recruited young people for Hamas activities. America also said that Al-Salah financed stores, kindergartens and the purchase of land for Hamas.
The society has received “substantial funding” from Persian Gulf countries, including “at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from Kuwaiti donors,” the department said.

It said the society’s director, Mr. al-Kurd, is a high-ranking Hamas leader in Gaza. It said the society also employed a number of members of Hamas’ military wing.

“Hamas has used the Al-Salah Society, as it has many other charitable fronts, to finance its terrorist agenda,” said Adam Szubin, director of the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.