Amid the conflict between Hamas and Israel, questions are being raised about Hamas’ funding. The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas has established several hideouts in Gaza and is receiving funding from foreign sources. Israel alleges that despite a shortage of fuel, Hamas possesses 500,000 liters of fuel, which they are not distributing to the public.
A former Mossad agent, Uzi Shaya, has revealed that Hamas manages its financial administration from Istanbul, Turkey, controlling a budget of £1.5 billion annually. Shaya claims that terrorist organizations receive financial support from Qatar, about £400 million, and Iran, around £200 million, to promote acts of terrorism. Businesses like real estate aid in laundering illicit funds.
The report indicates that after the Hamas attacks on October 7, which led to the killing of 1,400 Israelis, Barclays froze a bank account linked to Palestinian terrorists a few days later. Israel has closed nearly 200 cryptocurrency accounts related to Hamas between December 2021 and April this year.
Shaya also stated that he owns companies in the UAE, Sudan, Algeria, and Turkey that operate with cash. He says, “Hamas may seem like a small terrorist organization, but its funding is on a large scale.”
According to the former agent, “A significant portion of Hamas’s budget is retained by its leaders, their terrorists, and their families. It doesn’t reach the people in Gaza, where unemployment is high, and people earn less than £240 per month.”