The discovery sheds light on Iran’s extensive financial support for the terrorist group.
By Pesach Benson, TPS
Israeli forces seized cash and financial documents showing direct Iranian financial support for Hamas from an underground compound in Khan Yunis, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed on Tuesday night.
“We found official Hamas documents from 2020 detailing the funds transferred by Iran between the years 2014 and 2020 to Hamas and to Sinwar. More than one hundred and fifty million dollars were transferred from Iran to Hamas,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
He said the intelligence indicated a “direct connection from Iran to Hamas — and more so to Yahya Sinwar.”
The IDF released photos of envelopes of cash intended for Sinwar, Hamas’s strongman in Gaza who masterminded the October 7 attack on Israeli communities adjacent to the Strip.
The money was US dollars, Israeli shekels and Jordanian dinars.
“In the same subterranean space, we also found a safe with banknotes and bags containing more than twenty million shekels in cash, as you can see in the blue and black bags addressed to a clear location. These amounts join tens of millions of shekels we located during the war in Hamas tunnels in cases filled with millions of dollars,” Hagari said.
“This is a recurring phenomenon – large sums of cash, kept in organized compounds underground for the personal use of senior Hamas officials. Hamas leaders invested the money in their personal survival and that of their families underground,” he added. “This is another example of how Iran exports terror across the Middle East. The terror that Iran exports and produces is a global problem.”
Hagari added that the intelligence would be shared with international partners.
The announcement follows Israel’s seizure of three million shekels confiscated from Hamas-affiliated money changers in Khan Yunis on Sunday.
Cash confiscated from Gaza terror groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are transferred to the Ministry of Defense’s finance division, where it is counted and then deposited in Israeli state coffers.
At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 136 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.