IDF forces, the Lahav 433 unit of the Israeli police and the Shin Bet today carried out a large-scale operation in Judea and Samaria to confiscate Hamas terrorist funds. Banknotes in various currencies worth tens of millions of shekels were seized, while 21 wanted terrorists were arrested with the cash. Authorities have not yet counted all the money and the final total may be higher than expected.
The lion’s share of these millions of shekels in Judea and Samaria comes from Iran, which is trying to increase its influence. According to Defense Department estimates, the budget of terrorist organizations from Iran has jumped over the past two years, from about 10 to 15 percent to more than 50 percent.
Intelligence activities in Judea and Samaria are led by the IDF Central Command Intelligence Corps, which operates a special unit responsible for this issue with the Shin Bet. The current operation is exceptional because it was carried out in collaboration with the Lahav 433 cyber unit, which is also working to seize funds transferred to Hamas via cryptocurrencies.
Financial transfers have focused on the Jenin region, which in recent years has become the most important base of activities for Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Judea and Samaria. During the night operation, IDF planes attacked Jenin, an armed terrorist squad fired on IDF forces and the terrorists were identified. In several locations in Judea and Samaria, IDF forces responded by shooting at terrorists who threw explosives, Molotov cocktails, stones and fired at the forces. There were casualties among the terrorists.
Money currently fuels terrorist recruitment, not ideology
Hamas’ financial operations in Judea and Samaria are carried out through a terrorist and arms smuggling network. Even before the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Iran had increased the money and resources it attempted to bring into Judea and Samaria.
Along the IDF Central Command’s eastern front, most of the money and weapons smuggled in from Jordan passed through Iraq. The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Seyyed Razi Mousavi, killed earlier this week in an airstrike in Damascus, was likely involved in the operation.
The money transfer system is not limited to arms smuggling and cryptocurrency trading. There are money changers who help transfer funds to civil companies and charitable institutions, which actually belong to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and use the money for terrorist activities.
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The goal of Israeli security forces’ operations in Judea and Samaria is not to completely eliminate terrorist organizations, as this would be difficult to achieve. The aim of the financial struggle is to cut off the flow of funds, thereby reducing the effectiveness of smuggled weapons, because with less money it is more difficult to purchase ammunition. Moreover, it is this money that currently fuels the recruitment of terrorists. Unlike in the past, when the ideological motive was the main motive for Palestinian terrorist activity, today Hamas incites young people, for example, to commit a shooting for 2,500 shekels. These sums are therefore necessary to fuel terrorist activity.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – fr.globes.co.il – December 28, 2023.
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