The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday on several individuals and charities that the U.S. alleges are connected to the terrorist groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 

“Today’s action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations,” Michael Faulkender, the department’s deputy secretary, said in a statement.  

“Treasury will continue to use all available tools to prevent Hamas, the PFLP, and other terrorist actors from exploiting the humanitarian situation in Gaza to fund their violent activities at the expense of their own people.”

The sanctions will target “five individuals and five sham charities located abroad that are prominent financial supporters of Hamas’s Military Wing and its terrorist activities,” the Treasury Department said, as well as a separate fraudulent charity linked to the PFLP.

Both terror groups have a long history of abusing the charitable sector under the pretense of humanitarian work. The sanctions come as Hamas continues to hold 55 hostages in Gaza — including the bodies of two Americans.

The sanctions will have implications, including civil and criminal penalties, for any individual or entity that does business with the designated groups, according to the department. 

The announcement builds on recent Treasury Department efforts to target terror funding networks, including its designation in October of the anti-Israel group Samidoun as a “sham charity” operating as a key international fundraiser for PFLP.