Court-authorized seizures have allowed the FBI to confiscate $560,000 in cryptocurrency and take control of domains and servers used by Hamas to raise money and recruit supporters, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced.
Hamas – a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization – has been raising funds for terrorist operations and recruiting supporters, US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said, adding, “A message to Hamas: We will stop your fundraising for terror.
“Your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated.”
As well as seizing the cryptocurrency donations, the DoJ disrupted Hamas’ fundraising and recruitment communication platforms and websites. The terror group had originally controlled the seized infrastructure and cryptocurrency addresses on behalf of its military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades.
This seizure was carried out by the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, collaborating with human sources to identify and seize domains and servers of the Al-Qassam Brigades that controlled its main website, alqassam.ps.
Hamas relies on cryptocurrency and online platforms for financing
“These seizures deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on October 7, 2023,” Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John Eisenberg said.
“We will continue to tighten the vise on Hamas’s capacity for terror by infiltrating its online networks, confiscating its cryptocurrency, and shutting down its websites,” he added.
The FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said that Hamas relies on cryptocurrency and online platforms to solicit funds from donors around the world and move that money outside the formal financial system.
He promised that the FBI would continue to use its authorities to intercept illicit funds and prevent terrorist organizations from exploiting digital networks to finance their operations.