Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused Hamas of diverting billions of dollars in funds raised for Gaza, citing remarks by an adviser to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.
“Billions raised for Gaza. Billions pocketed by Hamas. Even the Palestinian Authority admits it,” the ministry wrote in a post on X.
The ministry cited June 4 remarks by Mahmoud al-Habbash, Abbas’s adviser on religious and Islamic affairs.
“Funds were collected through Hamas, its representatives and its leaders, and through Arab and Islamic elements who handed them over to Hamas,” al-Habbash said in an interview, which was translated by the Palestinian Media Watch NGO earlier this week.
“All these funds and the millions were collected and disappeared, evaporated, because they were collected through partisan and factional elements,” al-Habbash said. “They disappeared.”
Israel has long accused Hamas of diverting humanitarian aid and other resources. The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) previously estimated that the terror group siphons off at least 60% of goods entering Gaza.
