The Israel Defense Ministry has confiscated 30 cryptocurrency accounts belonging to al-Mutahadun exchange firm affiliates. The terrorist outfit Hamasq has been linked to the crypto wallets associated with 12 exchange accounts.
According to the Times of Israel, Israel’s Defense Ministry revealed on February 28 that al-Mutahadun assisted Hamas’ military branch by sending a large sum of money every year.
According to the ministry, al-Mutahadun, which is owned by the Shamlah family, provides “tens of millions of cash annually” to the Hamas terror group, notably its military wing.
Although the exact quantity of the seizures and crypto assets seized are unknown, Israeli officials believe Hamas uses cryptocurrencies to support its forces in large sums.
Al-Mutahadun was designated as a terrorist financing organization by Israeli officials in 2021. Hamas has accepted bitcoin donations since the beginning of 2019, when economic sanctions began severely affecting Hamas’ ability to fight Israel.
Months later, the group launched an experimental program in which it used a sophisticated cryptocurrency system to seek cash from international donors.
It has had financial troubles in recent years as a result of banks’ efforts to avoid dealing with the business.
This isn’t the first time crypto accounts have been linked to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Israel confiscated more than $800,000 in crypto assets from a Hamas-linked organization earlier this year.
Last summer, the National Bureau for Counter-Terrorism Financing in Israel seized $7.7 million in cryptocurrencies from 84 addresses.
Officials claimed that the money was intended to fund the Islamic terrorist organisation Hamas, as in prior cases.
By no means is cryptocurrency-based philanthropy limited to funding terrorist organizations.
Supporters of the Canada-based Freedom Convoy and Ukraine’s resistance movement against Russia gathered millions of dollars in bitcoin donations in the first two months of 2022.
In the meantime, recent clashes between Israel and the Islamic State of Palestine appear to have subsided. When the two sides declared war on one other in 2021, however, this was not the case.
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