Year after Oct. 7, US sanctions ‘sham charity’ and individuals for funding Hamas

Treasury secretary vows to ‘relentlessly’ pursue funding of terror group; says Hamas may have drawn as much as $10 million a month from donations, with Europe key source of funds

The US Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., June 3, 2022. (K I Photography/Shutterstock.com)
The US Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., June 3, 2022. (K I Photography/Shutterstock.com)

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on an international Hamas fundraising network, accusing it of playing a critical role in external fundraising for the terror group, in action marking the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on three people and what it called a “sham charity” that it accused of being prominent international financial supporters of Hamas, as well as on the Al-Intaj Bank in Gaza that it said was controlled by the terror group.

Also targeted was a longstanding Hamas supporter, a Yemeni national living in Turkey, and nine of his businesses, Treasury said.

“As we mark one year since Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, Treasury will continue relentlessly degrading the ability of Hamas and other destabilizing Iranian proxies to finance their operations and carry out additional violent acts,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the statement.

“The Treasury Department will use all available tools at our disposal to hold Hamas and its enablers accountable, including those who seek to exploit the situation to secure additional sources of revenue.”

Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza during their massacre one year ago.

A car destroyed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists is seen in Sderot, Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Israel then launched its ongoing military operation in Gaza aimed at returning the hostages and eliminating Hamas.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 349.

The Treasury on Monday said: “Hamas has exploited the suffering in Gaza to solicit funds through sham and front charities that falsely claim to help civilians in Gaza,” adding that as of early this year, the group may have received as much as $10 million a month through such donations. The Treasury said Hamas considers Europe to be a key source of fundraising.

Monday’s action targeted an Italy-based Hamas member the Treasury said established the sham Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which it accused of helping bankroll Hamas’s military wing.

Also targeted was a senior Hamas representative in Germany and a Hamas representative in charge of the group’s activity in Austria.

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