Italian police have arrested nine people on suspicion of raising around €7 million (£6 million) for Hamas over two years.
Police said in a statement that the money was ostensibly raised as humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, but was instead passed on to armed groups through a “complex fundraising system.”
Along with the arrests, police said they had seized more than €8 million (£7 million) worth of assets as part of the investigation.
Police said the suspects were “specifically charged with carrying out a financing operation believed to have contributed to terrorist activities.”
The arrests were made as part of a joint operation between Italian counter-terrorism police and financial police.
The investigation began after a Hamas attack occurred in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Police said they had analyzed “a series of reports of suspicious financial transactions” that implicated some of the suspects who led the attack.
Investigators discovered a “complex” system of financing, headquartered in Genoa with an office in Milan, the statement added.
“The suspects collected donations for civilians in the Gaza Strip, but it was revealed that more than 71% of these funds were diverted to finance Hamas military units and support the families of suicide bombers and those detained for terrorism,” police said in a statement.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the best known of the arrested suspects was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Italian Association for Palestine.
Mr Hannoon previously described claims that he was a Hamas financier as “lies”.
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