By Euronews
Published on
•Updated
Italian police arrested nine people accused of financing Hamas through charitable associations that investigators said raised at least €7.3 million for the Palestinian militant group.
Police and the Guardia di Finanza executed arrest warrants and seized more than €8 million in assets in an operation coordinated by Genoa’s District Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate.
The investigation, which began before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, revealed what prosecutors described as a complex network of international financial transfers through three Italian associations based in Genoa and Milan.
Investigators allege seven people arrested were members of Hamas’ foreign operations wing, while two others provided external support.
Of the nine arrest warrants issued, seven were executed in Italy, with two suspects believed to be in Turkey and Gaza, Genoa chief prosecutor Nicola Piacente said.
Who are the suspects and how was the money used?
Mohammad Hannoun, 63, president of the Association of Palestinians in Italy and founder of the Associazione Benefica di Solidarietà con il Popolo Palestinese (ABSPP), was identified by investigators as the alleged leader of the Italian cell.
Prosecutors said more than 71% of donations collected by ABSPP and related associations went to entities controlled by or linked to Hamas.
The associations under investigation are ABSPP, founded in 1994, a second ABSPP organisation established in 2003 and La Cupola d’Oro, created in Milan in December 2023.
According to court documents, the suspects evaded banking controls by creating new associations after financial institutions including UniCredit, Crédit Agricole and Poste Italiane closed accounts linked to Hannoun following alerts from Israeli and US authorities.
Prosecutors said funds were sent through foreign intermediaries to associations in Gaza, the West Bank or Israel that Israeli authorities declared illegal because of Hamas connections, or directly to Hamas members, including Osama Alisawi, who served as transport minister in Hamas’ de facto government in Gaza from 2008 to 2014.
Investigators said the money also supported families of people involved in suicide attacks or imprisoned for terrorism offences, which prosecutors argued strengthened Hamas’ operational capacity.
The investigation utilised phone taps, financial monitoring and cooperation with authorities in the Netherlands and other European countries.
Prosecutors said intercepted communications showed expressions of approval for terrorist attacks and connections between suspects and senior Hamas figures.
Hannoun an ‘immediate flight risk’
Judge Silvia Carpanini wrote in a 306-page custody order that Hannoun posed a “concrete and immediate flight risk,” citing evidence he planned to relocate to Turkey. Intercepts showed the plan was being put into motion at the time of arrests, the judge said.
Hannoun attended a meeting in Turkey in December with Ali Baraka, described by investigators as a senior Hamas foreign operations official, according to domestic media reports citing court documents.
The US Treasury designated Hannoun and ABSPP as terrorist financiers in 2023. Genoa prosecutors previously investigated Hannoun in the early 2000s, but that case was archived.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed “appreciation and satisfaction” for the operation, while Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the sting “lifted the veil” on activities that used humanitarian initiatives to conceal support for terrorist organisations.
Hannoun’s lawyer Fabio Sommovigo told Italian news agency AGI the case was based on Israeli authorities’ interpretation of money movements and that funds were collected peacefully for humanitarian purposes.