Who funds Hamas? A global financing network of crypto, cash, charities
Palestinian militant group Hamas uses a global financing network to funnel support from charities and friendly nations, passing cash through Gaza tunnels or using cryptocurrencies to bypass international sanctions, according to experts and officials.
However, Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, will face even more obstacles accessing funds after the rampage by the group’s gunmen that killed hundreds of Israelis, mainly civilians. Israel has responded with the heaviest bombardment of Gaza in 75 years of conflict. Earlier this week, Israeli police said they froze a Barclays bank account the authorities said was linked to Hamas fundraising and blocked cryptocurrency accounts used to gather donations, without specifying how many accounts or the value of the assets.
The move provided a glimpse of a complex financial web, some legitimate, much hidden, that underpins Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, and its government in the Gaza Strip, which it has run since 2007.
Matthew Levitt, a former U.S. official specialised in counterterrorism, estimated the bulk of Hamas’ budget of more than $300 million came from taxes on business, as well as from countries including Iran and Qatar or charities.
Between December 2021 and April this year, Israel seized almost 190 crypto accounts it said were linked to Hamas.
Ships and shells
Whether through crypto or other means, Hamas’ allies have found ways to get money to Gaza. The US State Department has said that Iran provides up to $100 million annually in support to Palestinian groups including Hamas, and has cited methods of moving the money through shell companies, shipping transactions, and precious metals.
By last year, Hamas had established a secret network of companies managing $500 million of investments in companies from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Treasury has said, announcing sanctions on the firms in May, 2022.
Israel has long accused Iran’s clerical rulers of stoking violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Tehran says it gives moral and financial support to the group.
Gas-rich Qatar too has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza since 2014.
Qatar walks a foreign policy tightrope, hosting the region’s largest US military base, the Taliban and other groups, often allowing it to mediate.
