To combat the threat posed by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite party Hezbollah, it is necessary to block the inflow of funds, not just face them militarily. Uzi Shaya, a former agent of the Israeli Shin Bet and Mossad services and an expert in the financing systems of terrorist groups, is convinced of this. During a meeting with journalists in Rome, the former Israeli 007 outlined an overview of the economic infrastructure and financing that reaches Hamas, responsible for the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023, and Hezbollah, which in turn engaged in a conflict with Israel in the north of the Jewish state. According to estimates, “direct financing to Hamas is between one and two billion dollars a year”, said Shaya, explaining that “the majority comes from Iran, through currency exchanges in Lebanon and Turkey or through the cryptocurrency system, and are largely used to finance military activities.” «Iran – he continued – is not the only financier of Hamas: around 20 million dollars arrive through non-governmental organisations, around 3.6 million dollars a year from Qatar, and funds from the EU or United Nations intended to support projects for the population”.
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After the attack by Hamas in Israel, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, financed by Iran, also took the field alongside the “Palestinian brothers” as part of the “resistance to Israel”. For the former Israeli intelligence agent, «Hezbollah is the threat of the future because it has a broader financing structure and manages the funds that arrive from Iran through the Al Qard al Hassan bank, which boasts 34 branches in Lebanon», despite the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury. Following a cyber attack suffered by the aforementioned bank in 2020, it emerged that “the institution has around 400 thousand account holders, including NGOs, and some of the hacked addresses, around 80, are connected to Italy”, continued Shaya . As in the case of Hamas, “about 70 percent of Hezbollah’s funds come from Iran and the remaining part through drug trafficking and a support network also present in Ivory Coast and South Africa”, the country that presented a complaint of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In light of all this, for Shaya the level of danger of Hezbollah is higher than that of Hamas, pointing out that the Shiite movement «is not only an enemy of Israel. We are fighting for our existence.” In conclusion, the former Israeli agent, who also had institutional meetings in Italy, hoped for “greater cooperation and timely application of the rules” on anti-money laundering and financing of terrorist groups.
