Italy arrests seven for diverting $8 million in donations for Palestinians to fund Hamas

Italian police say that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Hamas under the guise of fundraising for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Police also issue international arrests for two others outside the country.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, a police statement says.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas.”

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations “for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people,” more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas” or entities affiliated with the Islamist terror group, according to police.

Some of the money went to “family members implicated in terrorist attacks,” the statement says.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posts on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.”