Overview
Hicham Nmer Khanafer is an “active and influential” Hezbollah fundraiser and recruiter responsible for the group’s activities in The Gambia, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Khanafer, who holds a Lebanese passport, has allegedly hosted weekly meetings for Hezbollah supporters at his home in The Gambia, as well as weekly fundraising and recruiting drives for the group at a local mosque. Khanafer was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in June 2013.“Treasury Sanctions Hizbollah Operatives in West Africa,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, June 11, 2013, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl1980.aspx. Khanafer was one of four Hezbollah fundraisers in West Africa who raised “millions of dollars” for the group, according to David S. Cohen, the then-U.S. Treasury undersecretary in charge of sanctions.Rick Gladstone, “U.S. Blacklists Fund-Raisers for Hezbollah,” New York Times, June 11, 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/world/middleeast/us-hits-hezbollah-with-new-sanctions.html.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- Hezbollah
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Militia, political party, social-service provider, terrorist, transnational, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Iranian-sponsored, Islamist, jihadist, Khomeinist, Shiite
- Position(s):
- Recruiter and fundraiser for Hezbollah in The Gambia
Hezbollah is an Iranian-sponsored, internationally sanctioned terrorist group with an anti-Israel and anti-U.S. agenda. Hezbollah is primarily based in Lebanon, but has carried out terrorist and criminal operations around the world.
History
United States
The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated “Hicham Nmer Khanafer” as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.“Treasury Sanctions Hizbollah Operatives in West Africa,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, June 11, 2013, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl1980.aspx.
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.