Canada has expanded its list of suspected terrorist groups to include all elements of Hamas, the group that claimed responsibility for recent deadly suicide attacks in Israel.
The Canadian government had previously excluded the charity arm of Hamas from its list of groups and individuals whose financial assets will be frozen if found in any Canadian financial institution.

Earlier this month, the US froze the assets of several groups linked to Hamas.
But Canada, following the lead of Great Britain, initially made a distinction between Hamas military operations and its charitable, social and political initiatives.

That distinction now has been wiped out. Canada's office of the superintendent of financial institutions has directed all Canadian financial institutions to check their records to see if they have assets from Hamas.

Bureau Report