UAE puts 16 individuals, 5 entities on terrorism list over Hezbollah ties

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday added the names of 16 individuals, all Lebanese, as well as five entities operating in Lebanon, including al-Qard al-Hassan (Hezbollah's financial institution), to its terrorism list for their ties to Hezbollah, according to the UAE news agency WAM.

In its statement, the Emirati government specified more than once that this measure aims "to combat terrorism in the world and the financing of terrorism." The statement adds that "all national regulatory bodies must identify any individual or party that maintains any financial or commercial relationship with these individuals or entities and take necessary measures against them, which may include freezing assets in less than 24 hours."

The individuals included on the UAE terrorism list are Ali Mohammad Karnib, Nasser Hassan Nasr, Hassan Shehadeh Osman, Samer Hassan Fawaz, Ahmad Mohammad Yazbeck, Issa Hussein Kassir, Ibrahim Ali Daher, Abbas Hassan Gharib, Imad Mohammad Bazzi, Izzat Youssef Akar, Wahid Mahmoud Sbeity, Mustafa Habib Harb, Mohammad Sleiman Bdeir, Adel Mohammad Mansour, Ali Ahmad Kreichet, Nehmat Ahmad Jamil. The entities are the al-Qard al-Hassan association, Beit Mal el-Muslimin, al-Tashilat company, and two accounting firms.

This is not the first time that Gulf countries have linked Hezbollah to terrorist networks, especially since the start of the war against Iran, which sponsors the party and regularly targets its neighbors. In the UAE, as well as Kuwait and Bahrain, arrests have been made in networks that the governments of these countries have declared are connected to Hezbollah. Each time, Hezbollah has denied any involvement.

Several al-Qard al-Hassan agencies were targeted by Israeli airstrikes in 2024 and again in 2026, in an attempt to counter the party's financing network.