Hamas’s recent attack on Israeli territory during the weekend left the world stunned and raised a significant question: How did the group fund this operation? The answer is cryptocurrency.
The Hamas terrorist group and its associated organizations have garnered millions of dollars in cryptocurrency donations as data by the forensics company Elliptic and the Tel Aviv software firm BitOK.
Based on data from the Israeli government and a blockchain analytics report, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that three organizations, namely Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Hezbollah, acquired substantial amounts of funds through cryptocurrency.
Hamas’ militant wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, had received up to $100,000 in BTC .
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad received around $93 million in crypto donations between August 2021 and June 2023, while Hamas received around $41 million during the same period according to Elliptic.
The Israeli government has taken action to freeze cryptocurrency accounts linked to the collection of these donations, as disclosed in the report.
The Israeli police have stated that their motive for freezing cryptocurrency accounts is to disrupt the flow of money that Hamas raises through social media campaigns.
Cryptocurrencies are frequently regarded as a covert means of funding for organizations and countries that are excluded from the globally supervised financial system under U.S. influence.
For example, North Korean hackers have accumulated substantial sums of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks on different platforms and projects. Due to the privacy-enhancing features inherent in many cryptocurrencies, it becomes challenging to trace the movement of these funds, leading to concerns among government agencies.
“This is not an easy task,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the WSJ.
Since the beginning of 2021, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades have acquired roughly $100,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC). A noticeable surge in donations occurred in May, aligning with a period of increased conflict involving rocket attacks between Israel and Hamas. The majority of these transactions were conducted via the Binance platform.
Still, Crypto is not the main source of funding for Hamas and affiliated groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, based in Lebanon. The predominant source of financial support remains Iran, which contributes a substantial $100 million annually, as reported by the U.S. government.
Also Read: Israeli vs. Hamas: Crypto Industry Scrambles To Aid Victims
