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, prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Genoa said in a statement.
Those arrested allegedly diverted to Hamas-linked entities around 7 million euros ($8.2 million) raised over the last two years for ostensibly humanitarian purposes, prosecutors said. Police seized assets worth more than 8 million euros.
In another statement on Sunday, police said officers had seized 1.08 million euros in cash found in the offices of a pro-Palestinian charity and in the private homes of suspects, as well as pro-Hamas material.
The Italian 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.”
The Israeli ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled, praised the police’s work.
“I wish to express my appreciation to the Italian government and law enforcement for their important work against the infiltration of radical Islamic elements that operate to promote terrorism,” he wrote on X.
Meloni’s support for Israel during its war with Hamas in Gaza has triggered large and repeatedstreet protests in Italy.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 people, according to the enclave’s health ministry. It was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
