Hamas’ private equity fund, filled with assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the details of which were uncovered in 2018, is believed to have laid the groundwork for the group’s October 7 assault on southern Israel, according to a report in the New York Times. Israeli security officials found secret documents, which were also reviewed by The New York Times, exposing that Hamas controlled “mining, chicken farming and road building companies in Sudan, tin skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, a property developer in Algeria and a real estate firm listed on the Turkish stock exchange,” according to the report. At its peak, Hamas’ portfolio had a value of about half a billion dollars, the Times said. Although the findings were a major intelligence coup that had the potential to stifle Hamas’ money flow and foil its plans, no one sanctioned or publically called out the companies named in the documents for years. The best way for Israel to destroy Hamas is attacking its financial sourcesTunnels of cash and cryptocurrency: Hamas’ finances explainedWhy did Netanyahu want to strengthen Hamas? According to the investigation, both senior Israeli and American officials failed to follow up on the financial intelligence that showed that tens of millions of dollars were flowing to Hamas while they were buying new weapons. The report claims that even after the U.S. Treasury Department eventually levied sanctions against the companies in the network, Hamas figures were still able to gather millions of dollars by selling shares in a blacklisted company. The U.S. Treasury Department is concerned about the possibility that such streams will “allow Hamas to finance its continuing war with Israel and to rebuild when it is over,” the report said. Israeli leadership considered Hamas more interested in governing than in combat, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Qatar to shower extensive funds on Gaza, in the hopes that it would bring stability. Former Mossad’s Economic Warfare Chief Udi Levy recalls briefing Netanyahu on Hamas’ portfolio in 2015, saying Netanyhau “didn’t care that much about it.” Levy’s team, Task Force Harpoon, which was responsible for disrupting money flows to groups like Hamas, was shut down the subsequent year.
Israeli failed to act after discovering Hamas assets worth half a billion-dollars, New York Times reports
