RAMALLAH, May 21 (JMCC) - The United States State Department on Thursday issued a new directive designating the 'Army of Islam', a group mainly based in the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist group,
reports CNN.
[T]he group has been responsible for numerous terrorist acts against the governments of Israel and Egypt, as well as American, British and New Zealander citizens, the State Department said.
These actions include a number of rocket attacks on Israel, the 2006 kidnapping of two Fox News journalists in Gaza (an American and a New Zealander) and the 2007 kidnapping of a British citizen, journalist Alan Johnston, in Gaza. The group is also responsible for early 2009 attacks on Egyptian civilians in Cairo and Heliopolis, which resulted in casualties and deaths, the State Department said.
While the statement doesn't make reference to the abduction five years ago of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian security sources have said the group was involved in Shalit's capture, along with Hamas and another entity.
The directive makes it illegal to provide material support to the group and freezes any of its members assets in the US.