Cryptocurrency > Voytek Pavlik, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Israel has seized 30 digital wallets allegedly used by Hamas to fundraise, according to the Israeli Defence Ministry.
Defence minister Benny Gantz approved the seizure of the cryptocurrency wallets from 12 accounts, owned by an exchange company based in the Gaza Strip, which has since been declared a terror group by the ministry.
According to the ministry, the al-Mutahadun company “assists the Hamas terror group, and especially its military wing, by transferring funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars a year”.
Al-Mutahadun is owned by the Shamlah family, which has been the target of previous Israeli anti-terror operations.
The cryptocurrency – with an estimated value of tens of thousands of shekels – was confiscated in an effort by the defence ministry, police and military.
“We continue to expand our tools to deal with terrorism, and with companies that supply it with an economic oxygen pipeline”.
“I would like to congratulate all the organisations on their intelligence, operational and legal cooperation. We will continue to work together, in order to fight terror by any means and in any way”, Gantz said.
In 2019, Hamas issued an appeal for donations from supporters via Bitcoin to help bolster its financial position.
Months later, Hamas launched an experimental program using a complex cryptocurrency system to raise money from international donors.
In recent years, Hamas’s financial situation has been damaged by banks seeking to end their dealings with the organisation.