The United States on Tuesday took actions against a series of organizations which are supposed to have links with militant Islamic group Hamas, in a bid to show solidarity with Israel.
Speaking at the Rose Garden in the White House, President George W. Bush announced that the US Treasury Department has frozen the assets and accounts of the Holy Land Foundation in Richardson, Texas, whose money is used to support the Hamas.
According to Bush, the federal agents also secured the offices and records of the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, California, New Jersey and Illinois as a part of an ongoing investigation.
At the same time, the US authorities have blocked the accounts of a Hamas-linked bank and a Hamas-linked holding company based in the West Bank.
"The message is this: Those who do business with terror will do no business with the United States -- or anywhere else the United States can reach," Bush said.
Bush announced the move as Israel is carrying out military strikes against Palestinian targets in Gaza and the West Bank in retaliation for a series of bombings in Israel over last weekend.
Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the bombings, has vowed to retaliate the targeted killing of a senior Hamas military leader late November by an Israeli missile.
Breaking away from its usual balanced approach, the Bush administration has chosen to side with its ally Israel in the new round of escalating conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians.
(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2001)
