The Court Against The Government Of Israel Can Obtain 150 Crypto Wallets Related To Hamas

Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz. (photo: twitter @gantzbe)

JAKARTA - The Tel Aviv Court has reportedly issued a decision allowing the Israeli government to confiscate all cryptocurrencies in more than 150 blacklisted digital wallets for allegedly funding terrorist groups.

According to Israeli local media reports on December 18, Israel's Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, said a court ruling on December 15 had allowed authorities to confiscate more than $33,500 from digital wallets linked to the Islamist militant group Hamas.

Prior to the court's ruling, Israeli authorities were only legally allowed to confiscate digital assets directly related to terrorist activity, but not additional funds in the same wallet. In December 2021, authorities confiscated US$750,000 (Rp 11.6 billion) from the wallet.

The de facto ruling authority of the Gaza Strip, Palestine since 2007, Hamas has been classified as a terrorist organization as a whole or partly by several international countries and blocs including the United States, European Union, Israel, and Britain.

Starting January 2019, Hamas began urging its supporters to send funds using Bitcoin as a means to combat financial sanctions and isolation.

Gantz signed an order on July 9, 2021, allowing security forces to confiscate crypto accounts allegedly linked to the militant wing of Hamas.

Authorities revealed that at the time the accounts contained Tether, Eter, Dogecoin, XRP, Binance Coin, Zcash, Litecoin and other altcoins.

In February, 30 crypto wallets from 12 Hamas-related exchange accounts were also seized by Israeli authorities. However, the exact value of the crypto assets confiscated by Israel was not disclosed to the public.

Crypto has proven to have a relatively small role in fundraising for terrorist groups. In early 2022, blockchain analytic firm Chainalysis set only a fraction of the crypto funds used in criminal activity.