Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charity

Italian prosecutors said on Saturday they had arrested nine people on suspicion of financing Hamas through charities based in Italy, in an operation coordinated by anti-mafia and anti-terrorism units.



The suspects ⁠are accused of "belonging to and having financed" the Palestinian group, which the European Union designates as a terrorist organisation, this according to prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Genoa.



Those arrested allegedly diverted to Hamas-linked entities around $8.24 million raised over the ⁠last two years for ostensibly humanitarian purposes .



Police seized assets worth more than $9.4 million.



The investigation began after suspicious financial transactions were flagged and expanded through cooperation with Dutch authorities and other EU countries, coordinated through the EU judicial agency Eurojust.



Prime ⁠Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked the authorities for "a particularly complex and important operation" which had uncovered financing for Hamas through "so-called charity organisations."