Italian officials on Saturday announced the arrests of nine people who are accused of using charities to raise $8.2 million, most of which funded Hamas. File Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA
Dec. 27 (UPI) — Nine people who are accused of raising more than $8 million in Italy to help fund Hamas have been arrested by Italian authorities.
The nine are accused of raising $8.2 million over the past two years to help fund Hamas after it carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians and started the war in Gaza.
“The operation completed this morning by the State Police and the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) is a very important and significant one, with the arrest of nine people, including the most well-known Mohammad Hannoun,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a post on X on Saturday.
“Despite the necessary presumption of innocence that must always be recognized at this stage, the veil has been torn away on behaviors and activities that, behind the facade of initiatives to benefit the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in organizations with actual terrorist aims of an Islamist nature,” Pi