Continuation Of The Palestinian War, Israel Begins To Confiscate Crypto Money Related To Hamas

Hamas, is predicted to have to find other ways to get funds. (photo: Ahmed Abu Hameeda/ unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Israeli government said it would begin seizing cryptocurrency accounts used by the Hamas group in Palestine to raise money for its armed insurgent wing.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered security forces on Thursday 8 July to confiscate accounts after the joint operation. "We found a web of electronic wallets used by Hamas to raise funds using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies," Gantz said.

He added that Hamas had launched an online campaign to collect donations for its military wing. This effort accelerated after the 11-day war on Gaza in May this year. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are favored for illicit transactions because they are considered difficult to trace.

“The intelligence, technology, and legal tools that allow us to get terrorist money around the world are operational breakthroughs,” Gantz said.

Hamas was democratically elected in 2006 and took control of the Gaza Strip a year later from rival party Fatah after a last-ditch attempt to stage a coup.

Since then, Israel has carried out four major attacks in the besieged enclave, killing thousands of civilians. The most recent occurred in May, which killed 260 Palestinians, including at least 66 children. On the Israeli side, 13 people were killed, including two children.

The faltering ceasefire, initiated by Egypt, has been violated several times over the past month, with Israeli warplanes targeting several areas it says belong to Hamas military sites.

US Seizes Hundreds of Crypto Accounts

Last year, the US Department of Justice said it had seized millions of dollars from cryptocurrency accounts relied on by armed groups, including al-Qaeda and ISIS, to finance their violent organizations and plots.

The department said it had seized about $2 million, in addition to more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts, four websites and four Facebook pages linked to the scheme.

One branch of the US investigation targeted the military wing of Hamas. Law enforcement officials seized more than 150 cryptocurrency accounts they said were used to launder funds to and from accounts operated by the group.