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On 12 July, the Office of Javier Milei, Argentinaā€™s new president, that it was designating Hamas as an ā€œinternational terrorist groupā€.

The sanctioning of Hamas continues a trend initiated by the preceding administration of Mauricio Macri, with Milei's announcement made on the eve of commemorations for the 1994 terrorist attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA).

The attack, the deadliest in Argentinaā€™s history, killed 85 people and injured over 300 when a truck loaded with explosives drove into the Jewish centre. It has never been claimed or solved, but Buenos Aires, and Israel, have long claimed Hezbollah carried it out on Iranā€™s request.

Mileiā€™s decision was facilitated by the Macri administrationā€™s issuance of, which established the Public Registry of People and Entities Linked to Acts and Financing of Terrorism (). RePET compiles organisations linked to terrorist activities based on the UNSC, the Ministry of Justice, and the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF).

In theory, Argentine law allows the freezing of assets of those included on the list. It differs from the US Department of Stateā€™s list in its capacity to designate terrorist entities and individuals. In practice, the decree allows Argentina to circumvent the politics governing the UNSC Consolidated List and align closer with policies adopted by other Global North countries.

The sanctioning of Hamas is unexpected because the organisation has never been associated with terrorist attacks that have occurred in Argentina. So, why did Argentina sanction the Palestinian group?

Politicising the AMIA investigation

The Macri administration developed a pattern of announcements around every commemoration of the AMIA attack, which took place on 18 July 1994, none of which did much to advance the ongoing investigation.

However, such statements increased the likelihood of extracting benefits from the US by openly leveraging a pro-Israel foreign policy.

In 2016, the AMIA Special Investigation Unit (AMIA-SIU) published a detailing all lines of investigation, describing the challenges faced, and elaborating on future scenarios. It concluded with a warning about ā€œthe limited possibilities of criminal lawā€¦to offer a full response to the many demands for justice still unsatisfied are undeniableā€.

In 2017, the AMIA-SIU announced the identification of a new without mentioning the identity of the individual. Nevertheless, the press reported that it belonged to Lebanese citizen Ibrahim Hussein Berro, while Hezbollah reported that he died the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon in September 1994.

A year later, Argentinaā€™s Financial Information UnitĢż(UIF) ā€œthe freezing of assets and money of the members of an alleged criminal organisation linked to Hezbollah, which would be operating at the area known as the ā€˜Tri-Border Areaā€™ā€.

However, according toĢżĢżJuan Gabriel TokaliĆ”n, since 2001 there has been no evidence to show the presence of terrorist groups in Argentina or Latin America.

In 2019, the Argentine government created the RePET and the UIF the freezing of Hezbollah assets - despite Hezbollah having no known assets in Argentina.

Professor Alejandro Simonoff the decision as part of Argentinaā€™s realignment to be closer to the US under the Macri administration.

These largely symbolic actions on the eve of the AMIA attack commemorations held little significance for the ongoing investigation into the attacks.

Nevertheless, they secured the support of domestic pro-Israeli sectors and contributed to Argentinaā€™s international realignment by addressing post-9/11 US security concerns. The sanctioning of Hamas by the Milei administration must be understood against the same background.

Personalising foreign policy

Milei has identified with a blend of liberal-libertarian and anarcho-capitalist beliefs. He frequently cites economists Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek, and Argentine political theorist Juan Bautista Alberdi, as inspirations for his policies.

His stated to convert to Judaism, for Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, and from the Torah also indicate Christian-Zionist inclinations.

These ideological stances are central to Mileiā€™s political ideology and deeply influence Argentinaā€™s foreign policy due to his personal style of leadership.

Accompanied by General Laura Richardson, chief of the United States Army Southern Command (SouthComm), Milei in April a foreign policy ā€œnew doctrineā€ centred on common 'Western ideals': human life, individual liberty, and private property, or default alignment with the ā€œFree World, Israel, and the USAā€.

Due to Argentinaā€™s limited resources, the Milei administrationā€™s decisions regarding Israel are largely symbolic.

First, the Milei administration abandoned a long-standing foreign policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Then, president Milei travelled to Israel during his first state visit to support Israelā€™s brutal war on Gaza, confirming his intentions to relocate Argentinaā€™s embassy to Jerusalem.

Additionally, Milei cancelled state visits in Europe, suggested creating an emergency committee, and declared Argentinaā€™s ā€œunwavering support for Israelā€ Iranā€™s retaliatory actions in April. He also is the first Argentine president in 20 years to a commemorative event for the attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992.

Furthermore, the Milei administration promoted orthodox rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish as Argentinaā€™s ambassador to Israel, and the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation overstepped its original mandate to rule on concealment during the AMIA attack investigation to accuse Hezbollah and Iran.

The Milei administration accomplished all that in six months, reflecting the influence of Mileiā€™s political ideology and personalist leadership. In practice, this means Argentinaā€™s closer alignment to the US through non-negotiable backing of an Israeli regime accused of apartheid and war crimes.

Even Israelā€™s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged Mileiā€™s political shift, calling him a ā€œgreat friend of the Jewish stateā€.

Securitising Hamas

Hamas has no known role or connection with any of the terrorist attacks against Israeli institutions in Argentina. Nevertheless, both the Israeli ambassador to Argentina, Eyal Sela, and Milei have framed the events of 7 October as a new episode of violence against Argentine society.

At the commemoration of the 1992 Israeli embassy attack, Sela, ā€œThe terrorist organisation Hamas entered Israel and killed over 1,200 women, children and elderly, and once again wrote with blood the history of dozens of Argentines and Israelis who were murdered or kidnappedā€.

A day before the commemoration of the 1994 AMIA attack, at the ā€˜Building a Safer Futureā€™ conference organised by the World and Latin American Jewish congresses, Milei, ā€œthe lash of extreme terrorism on Argentine Jewish lives transcends the AMIA and Israeli embassy tragedies, ā€‹ā€‹and most recently [October 7], added a new sad chapterā€.

Transforming Hamas into a security threat to Argentina by falsely connecting past terrorist attacks in the country to the 7 October attacks on Israel justified the sanctioning of the group in the eyes of many in Argentine society.

However, the political manipulation of violent acts in Argentina is not new. In 2011, researcher Daniel Blinder that ā€œaccusing Iran and Hezbollah [for the AMIA attack] implies a strategic positioning aligned with the United States and Israelā€.

This accusation can be traced back to a coordinated effort by then-president Carlos Menem and Israeli ambassador to Argentina Dov Schmorak to present a unified on the event in 1994.

The sanctioning of Hamas by the Milei administration has simply added a new chapter to the politicisation of the AMIA investigation and Argentina-US bilateral relations while bringing no justice to victims and contributing to 30 years of deliberate concealment.

Jodor Jalit is an Argentine journalist, lecturer, and researcher currently based in the Middle East. He founded the digital platform El IntƩrprete Digital to amplify Arab voices in Spanish. His areas of interest are regional dynamics and security governance. His work has been published in Revista Estudios Internacionales, PƔgina 12, Syria Untold, Middle East Eye, and other publications.