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Seeking Cash, Hamas Turns to Allies Experienced in "Financial Jihad"

(Washington Post) Joby Warrick - Three days after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal urged supporters worldwide to give "aid, money and all that you have." Within days, a torrent of cash began pouring into accounts set up to help Gazans. Across the Middle East and Europe, the Gaza conflict re-energized old fundraising networks with ties to militant Islamist groups and causes. Some of the money was ultimately deposited in Hamas-controlled accounts. "It's very easy for someone to put up a website with a photo of an injured baby," said Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury Department counterterrorism official now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "This is a real opportunity if you're a Hamas fundraiser." Israeli officials say Hamas uses some of the money to pay the salaries of its fighters and to finance political and influence operations abroad. In the future, they say, surviving Hamas leaders could use the funds to replenish the group's stockpile of rockets.
2024-01-14 00:00:00
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