Iran have awarded at least £200 million to Palestinian militant group since 2014, reports have been gathered by the Israeli military.
Some letters exchanged by Hamas leaders ‘let out’ the figures.
Figures in the Letters
One document dated in 2020 by a top official in Hamas’ armed wing, Marwan Issa (Abu Baraa), and addressed to the group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar (Abu Ibrahim), showed a table of payments totalling $154 million from the Islamic Republic to Hamas coffers.
More Details Unveiled
Another document (handwritten letter) in November 2021 reveals the receipt of at least another $68 million and references to further expected payments.
The Israeli military, which allegedly uncovered the letters amid their operations in Gaza, told The Times they believe the documents prove Iran’s systematic funding of the Hamas group prior to the October 7 attacks which prompted the outbreak of war.
How the Money Was Wired
The money was allegedly transferred into Hamas accounts in Gaza via a complex system that sees members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force (IRGC-QF) deliver huge sums of cash to Hamas contacts in Lebanon.
The money is squirrelled in Beirut across the border by a network of money-changers using shell companies, crypto-currency, shipping transactions and various credit schemes to funnel the money to Hamas chiefs, per Israeli military reports.
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Israel and the US have since targeted the Hamas elite and have also worked to dismantle the networks that continue to fund the Palestinian group.
Issa is believed to have died in an Israeli airstrike on March 11, according to the IDF and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
And though Haniyeh is sheltering from the IDF’s bombs in Qatar, three of his sons and several of his grandchildren are said to have been killed in a strike in Gaza earlier this week.
