HAMAS Funding
US magazine Forbes named Hamas one of the wealthiest terrorist groups in the world in 2014, when their annual turnover was estimated to reach as much as $1 billion. This came from taxes and fees as well as financial aid and donations. Much of the funding for Hamas has come from expatriates or private donors in the Gulf region. Under Hamas rule, Gaza has experienced severe economic isolation from many countries. Blockades with neighbors Israel and Egypt have restricted the movement of goods and people.
Hamas has maintained ties with several regional powers and organisations in the Middle East since its creation in 1987. Whether it comes to financing, military aid or ideological support, the Palestinian Islamist movement can count on several regional allies.
Iran is considered one of Hamas' most prominent financial backers. According to the US State Department, the Middle Eastern power provides Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups with around $100 million a year in funding. Qatar and Turkey have also financially backed Hamas.
Tel Aviv cannot prove Iran's involvement in the Hamas attack 07 October 2023 on Israeli military installations and settlements in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, but has evidence of Tehran's support for the movement, Avichai Adri, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told RIA Novosti 21 October 2023. “We do not have enough information to say that Iran is involved in this process, but we do have enough information to say that Iran supports the Hamas movement and finances a significant part of its activities, as well as supporting it with weapons, training and instruction,” - said the agency's interlocutor.
The IDF spokesman added that despite the lack of evidence linking Iran to the attack, Hamas has historically close relations with Tehran. According to him, the Iranian side helped with military training and supplied the movement with weapons that could be used by Palestinian fighters. "To this day, we have not confirmed or linked Iran to this operation, but were the weapons or some of the weapons that were used Iranian-made? Yes. Were the exercises and so on also conducted under Iranian leadership or with Iranian support? Yes. But they were "Is the operation, the timing of it and the manner in which it was carried out, under the leadership of Iran? We do not have sufficient information to confirm this," Adri said.
Historically, Hamas received funding, weapons, and training from Iran, but the relationship suffered after Hamas refused to follow Iran’s lead in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. The group also raises funds in the Gulf countries and receives donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world through its charities, such as the umbrella fundraising organization, the Union of Good. Some fundraising and propaganda activity takes place in Western Europe and North America. After the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government, efforts by the Egyptian military to destroy tunnels connecting Gaza with the Sinai severely limited Hamas’s access to weapons, smuggled goods, and construction materials.
The U.S. Government estimated in 2023 that Hamas’ annual budget was at least $50 million. The majority of these funds are generated by the contributions of Non Government Organizations (NGOs), state sponsors and wealthy individuals. While most of these funds may be used to support the social programs espoused by Hamas, any contribution to Hamas, for any purpose, frees up other funds for its planned violence. The leaders of Hamas have taken advantage of donations made to NGOs and charities, which may appeal for the need to support orphans and widows, as well as, build schools and hospitals, but are actually “fronts” for Hamas and use a portion of these contributions to support the terrorist organization’s military wing.
Many donors believed that their charitable contributions were fulfilling one of their tenets of Islam (Zakat), but have unwittingly supported terrorist attacks through payments made to the NGOs and charities, which are actually Hamas “front” companies. Others have contributed financial assistance because they sympathized with the Palestinian people, who have suffered socio-economic hardships, as a result of the past three years increased violent conflict. These charities are an easy target for fraud, as certain funds, which were originally provided for charitable purposes find their way to supporting Hamas’ military wing and ultimately are the source for terrorist attacks.
The Holy Land Foundation, originally known as the Occupied Land Fund, was established in California in 1989 as a tax-exempt charity, not a religious organization. In 1992, the Holy Land foundation relocated to Richardson, Texas. It has offices in California, New Jersey, and Illinois, and individual representatives scattered throughout the United States, the West Bank, and Gaza.
The FBI first got involved in the Holy Land case in 1994, when it began looking into the organization’s financial ties to Hamas. During the investigation, FBI agents traveled the globe to conduct more than 100 interviews, to sort through hundreds of boxes of documents (including many Arabic documents), to view hundreds of video and audio tapes in Arabic, and to review thousands of pages of bank records.
In December 2001, three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Holy Land as a “Specially Designated Terrorist” group. We raided the organization’s Texas headquarters, seized its assets, and shut down its operation. At the time, Holy Land was ranked as the country’s largest Muslim charitable organization.
The FBI’s fight against terrorism funding paid a big dividend 24 November 2008 when five former leaders of a U.S.-based Muslim charity were convicted of funneling more than $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Guilty verdicts on all 108 counts against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were announced in federal court in Dallas, Texas, representing the largest victory against terrorist financing in the U.S. since the 9/11 attacks. During the trial, the government presented evidence that Holy Land Foundation and the five defendants provided approximately $12.4 million in support to Hamas and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad.
“For many years, the Holy Land Foundation used the guise of charity to raise and funnel millions of dollars to the infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization,” said Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “This prosecution demonstrates our resolve to ensure that humanitarian relief efforts are not used as a mechanism to disguise and enable support for terrorist groups.”
HAMAS receives funding from Palestinian expatriates and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activities take place in Western Europe and North America. As of 2003 US intelligence sources estimated that the militant Palestinian group Hamas had an annual budget of 50 million dollars, raising much of that money through its reputation as a charity. Despite its notoriety worldwide as a terrorist group, many Palestinians see Hamas as a charitable organization that builds schools and hospitals and steps in where the Palestinian Authority has failed.
Qatar reportedly pledged more than $400 million in aid to Hamas during an October 2012 visit to Gaza by Qatar’s ruling emir at the time, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. In June 2014 Qatar attempted to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars through Arab Bank for the salaries of 44,000 Hamas civil servants. The money was not processed by Arab Bank and delivered to Hamas, due to pressure from the US.
According to Shin Bet, by 2010 the HAMAS budget consisted of three major parts: 1) USD 200 million annually for government operating expenses; 2) USD 50 million each year to support the Hamas movement's civilian side and organization; and, 3) USD 40 million annually for its military wing and security apparatus. Reports of Hamas's total wage bill vary widely. According to press reports, Hamas had more than 34,000 employees on its payroll who received USD 16 million in monthly salaries [in 2014 HAMAS political leader Khaled Mishal stated that the HAMAS had 50,000 employees]. Hamas smuggled in large quantities of foreign currencies (primarily USD and Euros) in order to fund its operating expenses.
The Hamas organization is also operating in European countries and the United States, mainly among the Palestinian population, by conducting fundraising (through charity associations and foundations - Dawa activity). Some of the funds received are channeled to finance terrorist activity in Israel, and other monies are intended for the funding of Hamas civilian activity. The United States is seeking to bankrupt Hamas by undermining its reputation as a charity.
Syria serves as an important base of the Hamas organization, from a political, information and operational perspective. Officials in the Hamas leadership reside in Syria and conduct their operations from there. This applies particularly to the so-called political office of the Hamas, headed by Khaled Mashal. They are in regular daily contact with the Hamas leadership in the territories, headed by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and with the terrorist operatives of Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam (Hamas battalions) in the territories.
The Syrian Government enables the Hamas leadership and its terrorist commanders to conduct their various activities on its soil, including the formulation of the Hamas operational strategy, the training of terrorist operatives, the funding of terrorist activity against Israel and assistance in the purchase of arms and ammunition.
Consensus is lacking on the extent of Syrian influence over Hamas; some believe the landlord-tenant relationship gives Syria decisive leverage. Others see a Syrian-Iranian rivalry and give Iran with its financial resources an advantage. Syrian officials argue that they deal with Hamas as one of the region's "realities," and there would be no need for Hamas, i.e., armed resistance, after a comprehensive peace deal with Israel. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood. Syria outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, and technically, Hamas should be outlawed in Syria. But the minority Alawite regime needs Hamas as a means of placating the Sunni majority in the country, particularly given its alliances with Shia Iran and Hizballah. Though Syria does not share Hamas's religious ideology, the SARG finds its association with the group useful in enhancing Syria's position in the Arab context, as a card in future negotiations with Israel, and in placating the majority Sunni Syrian population.
The Syrian relationship with Hamas is yet another of Syria's associations based on short-term objectives and long-term contradictions. With Hamas claiming victory after the December 2008 - January 2009 military operation in Gaza, and Syria pretending to agree, both parties have seen their regional positions dramatically improve, putting the moderate Arab leaders on the defensive. Though Syria reportedly counseled Hamas not to end the six-month tahdiya that expired in mid-December, when the bombing started, Syria's support for Hamas was not in question. Syria correctly calculated that Hamas's threshold for victory - mere survival - was a much easier bar to cross that Israel's stated goal of destroying Hamas's capability to launch rockets into Israel. The Syrian government in general, and President Bashar al-Asad in particular, calibrated their public reaction in terms that captured the sentiments on the Arab street, lending legitimacy to Syria's support for resistance at the expense of moderates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
The Hamas is active in a number of other countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. These countries provide support and assistance in funding and operations training.
The Hamas has an extensive network of financial sources, operating within the framework of Dawa activity, with a total value of tens of millions of dollars a year.
- Gulf States - A considerable proportion of the aforementioned funds originate from various sources in the Gulf States (The Gulf Cooperation Council States). Most of the funding is from Saudi Arabian sources, with a total value of $12 million a year.
- Iran - Its contribution was once estimated at $3 million a year. Syria, a long-standing Iranian ally, serves as the main hub through which Tehran sends weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. In August 2011, Western media reported that Iran had cut back or even stopped its funding of Hamas after the organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, failed to show public support for Assad.
- Charitable associations in the Territories - Funds are raised for the Hamas through the mosques (a convenient domain for fundraising and recruitment of members) and through charity associations and foundations.
- Charity associations overseas
- Fundraising abroad and in the territories
It is not possible to separate the Dawa activities conducted for humanitarian purposes from the direct and indirect funding of terrorism: All the monies flow into a common fund, and are then channeled to the relevant activities, in accordance with needs and in coordination with the functions of the organization in the territories and abroad. The monies are transferred using the following means: bank transfers, moneychangers, private money services, unofficial networks for the transfer of funds and "unsuspecting" assistants. Thus, in view of the great difficulty in tracing the source of the money, its address and the motives behind the transfer of funds, it is essential that a strict and vigilant approach be adopted towards the entire fundraising network, operating within the framework of Dawa activity.
The amount of funds generated and laundered both domestically and internationally in support of terrorist activities is difficult to determine. Currently, no verifiable or hard numbers exist which adequately quantify these funds. Intelligence and evidence derived from past and current investigations and seizures give some idea of the situation, but the full scope of this problem is still unknown. However, many agencies and governments are coming to realize the critical need to cut off and deny terrorists and their support networks access to the funds necessary to carry out acts of aggression.
As a designated terrorist entity, Hamas faces sanctions and exclusion from the international banking system. Global counterterrorism financing measures go after any fundraising attempts by the group. Even so, reports show Hamas received a significant amount of funding in the form of cryptocurrency in the years leading up to the terrorist organization's 2023 attack on Israel.
Hamas received $41 million (€39 million) between August 2021 and June 2023, according to crypto analytics and software firm BitOK, which is based in Tel Aviv. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), whose militants joined Hamas in carrying out the attack, received another $93 million in cryptocurrencies, according to London-based crypto researcher Elliptic.
The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have also received millions of dollars of cryptocurrency transfers, according to an Elliptic analysis. These transfers came in the form of bitcoin, the stablecoin tether and other crypto-assets, including dogecoin, a cryptocurrency popular with Elon Musk that was initially invented as a joke.
Some of these groups are even involved in crypto-mining, Elliptic says, which allows them to earn more money from the basic maintenance of cryptocurrency networks. Cryptocurrencies have made it easier for Hamas supporters in areas hostile to the group to get around sanctions. As early as 2019, the al-Qassam Brigades were asking supporters on its Telegram social media channel to send bitcoin. "The reality of jihad is the expenditure of effort and energy, and money is the backbone of war," Hamas wrote in a post, attaching a wallet address that received about $30,000 in bitcoin that year.
In April 2023, however, the group said it would cease its bitcoin fundraising. This was due to a "doubling of hostile efforts against everyone who tries to support the resistance through this currency," they said on Telegram.
Cryptocurrency is still far from the largest funding source for terrorism, but there is a growing focus on cutting off this channel to Hamas. Following the October 7 attack, Israeli authorities announced they had frozen several Hamas-linked cryptocurrency accounts, saying the group had organized another call for fundraising on social media.
"The Police Cyber Unit and Ministry of Defense immediately took action to locate and freeze these accounts, with the assistance of the Binance crypto exchange, in order to divert the funds to the state treasury," a police statement said.
Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. While it is cooperating with Israeli authorities, the exchange is itself under scrutiny for the indirect but significant role it has played in financing terrorism. In recent years, authorities have attempted to seize cryptocurrency held on dozens of Hamas-linked Binance accounts, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal. The US Justice Department has also been investigating the crypto exchange for failure to prevent money laundering.
Internal Binance communications revealed in court proceedings indicate that while Binance may not seek out criminal customers, it is aware of and tolerates this customer base. In one internal exchange, former compliance chief Samuel Lim wrote that terrorists usually send small sums, as large sums would constitute money laundering.
The United Nations estimates that cryptocurrencies account for 20% of terror financing in the world. The recent seizure of the Hamas accounts has renewed scrutiny of cryptocurrencies. Critics say crypto is the perfect funding tool for criminals because the payments can be difficult to track and can evade financial regulations.
"It's alarming and should be a wake-up call for lawmakers and regulators that digital wallets connected to Hamas received millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies," US Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Crypto is the not-so-secret financial weapon funding terrorist organizations like Hamas, Chinese fentanyl networks and North Korea's missile program."
Doha appears to be a financial backer for Hamas. “Their financial support of $30 million per month is proven and public,” said Didier Billion, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS). “These payments are justified to pay civil servants in Gaza, and we know perfectly well that the latter are members of Hamas. Doha’s money is therefore the equivalent of direct support for this organisation which has held the Palestinian enclave with an iron fist for many years.”
The financial support began around 2018 to avoid “a major humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, as the French newspaper Libération reported in 2018. The first payment of $15 million arrived in three large suitcases brought into Gaza through the Israeli border crossing at Erez, in the north of the enclave. Qatar’s envoy to Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, also known as the unofficial intermediary between the Gaza Strip, Doha and Israel, delivered the cash.
These cash transfers took place with the approval of the Israelis and the international community, reported The Times of Israel on October 8. According to the news site, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group”. Furthermore, “most of the time, Israeli policy was to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset”.
Qatar's links with Hamas are not only financial but also political. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has resided mostly in Doha since 2012, and the political bureau of the Islamist movement is located in the Qatari capital. The small emirate’s “dangerous game” does not end there, said Myriam Benraad, Middle East expert and professor of international relations at the Schiller International University. “In addition to hosting certain prominent leaders of Hamas’s political branch, Doha also immediately positioned itself as a negotiator on the issue of Israeli hostages in recent days. This indirectly boosts the role of the small Gulf monarchy.”
The international community is also well aware of Qatar’s influence on Hamas. Germany, for example, on Thursday called on Qatar to play “an important role” for the release of the hostages, “because they have communication channels that we don’t have”.
Qatar's press relations in France stated: "Qatar is not a financial backer of Hamas. It provides aid to Gaza, and the destination of the money is crystal clear.” “Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip is fully coordinated with Israel, the United Nations and the United States, and provided in coordination with Israel and the United Nations. Qatari aid provides $100 to the poorest Palestinian families to pay for food and basic medicines, and extends electricity for a period of one day in Gaza. Its aim is to help maintain stability and quality of life for Palestinian families in Gaza."
Iran, one of the regional powers in the Middle East, also maintains close ties with Hamas. There are “two levels” in the relationship between Tehran and the Islamist movement, according to Didier Billion, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS). “On a public level, Iran supports the Palestinian national cause, with marked support for Hamas.” In effect, Iran forms – along with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and the Lebanese group Hezbollah – the so-called “Axis of Resistance” against Israel. This is one of the fundamental components of Iranian foreign policy in the Middle East.
“The second level is not public: It is either financial or logistical aid from the Revolutionary Guards,” said Billion. Haniyeh revealed in an early 2022 interview with Al Jazeera that Iran paid a total of $70 million to the Palestinian group. Tehran more generally finances all Palestinian armed groups to the tune of $100 million per year, according to a report by the US State Department published in 2020.
“Military support is provided through the transfer of Iranian technology,” said Wassim Nasr, a FRANCE 24 journalist specialized in jihadist movements. “This consists of providing expertise in producing drones and modifying civilian drones into military drones. But it can also mean delivering munitions and weapons that pass through the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.”
The nature of the ties between Hamas and Iran has led certain international news sources to point out Tehran's responsibility for the October 7 attack. The Wall Street Journal in an article on October 8 claimed that “Iran helped plot an attack on Israel over several weeks”. The Iranian regime, for its part, denied any involvement in the attack and spoke of “false rumours”.
“It is too early to establish all the responsibilities for this attack,” said Benraad, adding the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, the name Hamas gave its offensive, could increase tensions in the region. “Iran has indirectly confronted Israel for many years, and the Hamas attack will reinforce this pattern.”
“A few NGOs provide humanitarian aid” in Gaza, but Ankara provides “mostly rhetorical support” to Hamas, said Nasr. Turkey has a long-standing tradition of supporting the Palestinian cause. Its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reiterated his support last July when he said, “establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within the 1967 borders based on UN parameters is essential for the peace and stability of our entire region".
Compared to Qatar and Iran, Turkey’s support is more “political” than financial or military, said Didier Billion, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS). Furthermore, the Turkish government has not only maintained ties with Hamas, but also with the Palestinian Authority, with Erdogan welcoming the leaders of both to Ankara last July. Yet, “Turkey has repeatedly rolled out the red carpet for Hamas in recent years,” said the deputy director of IRIS. The occasional visits to Ankara by Haniyeh, who is living in voluntary exile between Qatar and Turkey, are also a factor.
After the October 7 attack, Ankara tried to act as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Erdogan first called on Israel and Hamas to “support peace”, then condemned the “shameful methods” of Israel as part of its military response towards the Gaza Strip. An official source told AFP and Reuters on October 11 that Turkey was carrying out negotiations aimed at securing the release of civilians kidnapped during the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.
The links between Egypt and Hamas are historical – the Palestinian movement is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic organisation founded in Egypt in 1928. These ties weakened in 2013 when the Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in a coup against democratically elected Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the recent past, Hamas took advantage of tunnels bypassing the Egyptian border towards Gaza, illegally importing necessities, construction materials and even weapons. The Egyptian authorities later closed most of the tunnels. Cairo slightly changed its position beginning in 2018 by allowing some commercial goods into Gaza. Hamas collected more than $12 million in taxes per month in 2021 on these goods, according to US think tank Council on Foreign Relations.
After the Hamas attack on Ocotber 7, Cairo positioned itself as a mediator in the conflict, like Ankara. Egypt, the first Arab country to recognise the existence of Israel in 1979, is also the only opening to the world for Gaza, via the Rafah border post located in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
Erel Margalit, Israeli hi-tech entrepreneur and former member of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told JNS 26 December 2023 that Israeli cybersecurity companies are among those best weathering the global downturn in the hi-tech sector, and can help contribute to choking off Hamas’s finances. “We’re finding issues with the way the world is transferring money to Hamas. People think about Hamas militarily, but you need to understand, they have $2.5 billion that’s been coming in to build underground terror tunnels and all these missiles,” said Margalit. “Somebody needs to finance all that. So if you’re going to stop it, you have to be smart about it.”
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