The newspaper titled its report: “A senior Hamas official remained in the shadows… Who are you, Ali Baraka?”
- Baraka was born in Lebanon to a Palestinian family from the village of Saffuriya near Nazareth.
- He officially joined Hamas in 1992.
- He worked as a representative of the movement in Tyre, where he lived.
Despite his limited media appearances, Baraka has made some harsh statements that have made him one of the most “extremist” members of Hamas.
In a statement after October 7, Baraka said that Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif had requested support from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and that Baraka, as head of Hamas’s foreign relations department, was the one who delivered the message.
He also revealed that since 2021, Hamas has established a joint operations room with other Palestinian factions.
In the past, Baraka has spoken out against the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, accusing them of “boycotting Hamas,” though he has been involved in several attempts to mediate the formation of a national unity government between Hamas and Fatah.
In another interview, Baraka praised Iranian funding, saying: “Iran plays a major role in supporting the Palestinian resistance. After Operation Protective Edge in 2014, which lasted 51 days, the resistance exhausted most of its missile stockpile. It was a long war, and Iran was the only country that provided financial support to the resistance so that it could produce more missiles and obtain weapons and equipment. Iran compensated the resistance for its losses in the 2014 war, and now the resistance is working to develop its military industry, using Iranian financial support to buy raw materials, which are expensive, and Iranian support is the basis of Gaza’s steadfastness.”
The US Department of Justice recently announced criminal charges against six senior Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Ali Baraka.
The charges include conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to kill American citizens.
On December 13, 2023, Baraka was one of eight Hamas leaders sanctioned by the United States for “advancing Hamas’s agenda by representing its interests abroad and managing its financial affairs.”
On the same day, in coordination with US authorities, the UK also imposed restrictions on Baraka, including a travel ban and asset freeze, due to his vocal support for hostage-taking.
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