Hamas SA, the financial muscle of the Palestinian Islamist militia

On Friday, just a few hours before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken landed in Istanbul to hold difficult talks with the Turkish authorities about the conflicting positions that both countries maintain in the Gaza war, his office announced a reward of up to 10 million dollars (nine million euros) for information on five members of the financial structure of the “terrorist” organization Hamas, three of them – it is believed – based in Turkey.

The leaders of Israel and their allies in Washington are convinced that, to put an end to the Palestinian Islamist militia, they must attack its sources of financing and a structure that includes companies and million-dollar investments in various countries, including a once reliable ally such as Turkey, which In the last decade it has welcomed leaders of the group, which it considers a “liberation movement.”

Terrorist group or resistance movement, Hamas's armed struggle costs money: to buy weapons, maintain military infrastructure (drone and rocket factories, tunnels, bunkers and barracks), pay the salaries of fighters and compensation to the families of those that die And Gaza – the group's operational base – is not exactly an economic garden: the Israeli blockade has left half of Gazans unemployed and the population with a rent per capita of just 1,150 dollars, about 1,000 euros. So where does the economic infrastructure come from to support Hamas?

“Until Hamas took control of the Government of the Strip, it was financed mainly thanks to Iran and the abuse of charitable organizations,” Matthew Levitt, director of the Counter-Terrorism Program at the Washington Institute and former employee of the US Treasury, explains to EL PAÍS. and from the FBI: “But in the last 10 or 15 years, their main source of income has been the control of the territory in Gaza.” The operational and military budget of Hamas is estimated at around 550 million euros annually, that is, at the level of military spending of States with a population similar to that of Gaza such as Slovenia, Latvia or Armenia. Or what is the same, just over 230 euros per capita (military spending per capita of Israel is 10 times higher).

The Hamas Government imposes taxes on the import of products through the border crossings and, when these are not open, the tunnels with which the Strip is supplied from Egypt. Added to taxes on commercial activities, it represents a collection of about 450 million euros annually. At the same time, Gaza receives around 2 billion dollars (1.85 billion euros) annually from the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank and from international cooperation, including the UN, the European Union and Qatar. The latter delivers 360 million dollars annually – until a few years ago in briefcases with cash – to pay the salaries of civil servants and to help the most needy families, according to an agreement closed with the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Experts like Levitt believe that not all of this money budgeted for Gaza goes to the population, but that some of it is mixed with Hamas' operational expenses, for example, payment to fighters who are formally employed as civil servants: after the October 7 attack , the Israeli authorities revealed the identity of some attackers who supposedly worked as police officers and officials of the Gazan Administration. This source of income ends with the practical destruction and new Israeli occupation of Gaza.

Iran remains a clear and conspicuous contributor, particularly to Hamas's armed wing, the Ezedin al Qasam brigades. The organization's own political leader, Ismail Haniya, acknowledged in an interview with the Al Jazeera network in 2022 that Iran had contributed 70 million dollars (63 million euros) to strengthen its defense. And expert estimates vary between that figure and 120 million annually. In addition, the Palestinian group continues to receive donations from the Palestinian diaspora and from individuals in various parts of the world in fundraising campaigns. crowdfunding that advertises through social networks. The funds are sent to Gaza through the method of hawala or through cryptocurrencies, although the latter has proven to be less secure, since they can be tracked thanks to technology blockchain. US and Israeli intelligence have reported that important nodes for these transfers – currency and cryptocurrency exchange houses – used by Hamas are located in Turkey.

Hamas business emporium

But to avoid this dependence on donors – for example, Tehran's contributions were significantly reduced when Hamas aligned itself with the Syrian opposition against the allied regime of Iran at the beginning of the last decade – the Palestinian group established a Financial Committee, whose leaders have lived abroad for more than three decades (first in Jordan, then in Saudi Arabia and later in Turkey), and an Investment Office dependent on the Shura Council of Hamas. According to US intelligence, Zaher Jabarin has been the head of Hamas Finance since 2017 and is believed to reside in Turkey; The Investment Office has been headed by Ahmed Odeh, Usama Ali and Hisham Qafisheh, and all of them have resided in or passed through Turkey. Qafisheh, who has held management positions in several companies managed by Hamas, obtained Turkish nationality in 2021 and changed his name to Hasmet Aslan, according to data from the commercial registry consulted by EL PAÍS.

The US Treasury estimates that Hamas' assets abroad amount to $500 million and include companies such as the Al Zawaya group, which maintains subsidiaries in Cyprus, Turkey, Spain (a real estate company in Valencia) and Sudan, and which He received juicy contracts in roads, mining and in the agricultural sector in this African country until the fall of the Islamist dictator Omar al Bashir. In recent months, the United States has also sanctioned other construction and real estate development companies that it considers part of the militia's financial network, such as the Algerian Sidar, the Saudi Anda and the Emirati Itqan Real Estate JSC, which Hamas tried to sell in 2019 for 150 million dollars.

“The United States has a long tradition of sanctioning innocent people without concrete evidence,” complains Ali Bakir, a Turkey expert and professor at Qatar University, for whom these accusations are part of a campaign aimed at countering allegations of “genocide.” ” to Israel: “Some circles in Washington are trying to extort countries that defend the Palestinians, such as Turkey.”

The company that has raised the most dust after being singled out by Washington is the Turkish company Trend GYO, a publicly traded company that recently completed the construction of the new building of the Commercial University, an institution linked to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. The Turkish company was founded in 2006 by Qafisheh and Saudi citizen Saleh Mangoush under the name Anda Gayrimenkul, which changed to Trend GYO in 2017. Already in May 2022, the US Treasury included it on its sanctions list by identifying it as one of the “key components of Hamas's global asset group” and, since then, several managers and shareholders have been subject to three more rounds of sanctions.

“It's actually not difficult for Hamas to do these things,” explains Levitt: “All they need is people who don't go around in a Hamas uniform and who are willing to run a company and, when it dis
tributes dividends, divert part of it. of them or all of them to Hamas.” On paper, everything works as it should, in fact it is subject to independent audits and scrutiny by the Turkish Securities Market Commission. So much so that, according to research by The New York Times, International clients have purchased Trend GYO shares through US and European banks, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ironies of global capitalism.

The Turkish Finance Ministry said last month that it has reviewed the accounts of Trend GYO and those associated with it and concluded that they “have not abused the Turkish financial system” and that it is in no way related to the attacks on Israel last month. October. In statements to EL PAÍS, a company source called the US Treasury allegations “lies”: “We have no idea why they are attacking us; perhaps because our initial investors were Palestinians, but they left it a long time ago and left Turkey. The current management does not even know them personally.”

In the last three years there has been a constant renewal of the board of directors and shareholders, with the departure of the majority of Arab investors, according to the commercial registry. Several officials linked to the AKP, the party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have taken their place and, despite the sanctions, the construction company's shares have gained value.

Amer Alshawa, one of the alleged Hamas financiers for whom the US offers the reward of 10 million dollars and who in 2015 was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of helping the Palestinian organization, served as general director of Trend GYO between 2007 and 2019. In an interview with The New York Times He denied having relations with Hamas, but claimed to have suspicions that the members of the Council did collaborate with the group: “I didn't really care, I was there to make money.”

The dividends that the international investment conglomerate contributes to Hamas are estimated between 10 and 20 million dollars annually. “These investments are not liquid. They are not cash that you can access immediately,” Levitt points out. Its importance lies more in that it is a fund to resort to in times of need. For example, accounting documents obtained by Israeli espionage established that, after the 2014 war, Hamas sold assets worth $75 million to rebuild part of its infrastructure in Gaza.

Now, after the destruction of the Strip, the seed of the reconstitution of the Islamist group could also begin there. “These investments generate continuous income, and unless they are identified and frozen, they will continue to do so. But given the countries where they are located, it is unlikely that they will be frozen,” says Jessica Davis, a financial intelligence expert and former employee of the Canadian secret services: “If the group loses control of Gaza, almost all of its assets They may be used for military or terrorist activities.”

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