The UK is knowingly funding Hamas, says new report
A new report reveals that the United Kingdom has been knowingly funding Hamas, one of several governments financing the terror group.
On Sunday, NGO Monitor published a 2022 memo from the British Consulate-General in Jerusalem (BCGJ) titled “UK Humanitarian Support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (FY 2022-2026).” The document discusses funding UNICEF-administered cash assistance to Gaza for “humanitarian” purposes, acknowledging that in doing so the UK is supporting Hamas.
“The cash assistance component will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Social Development MoSD,” the document says, adding: “The MoSD in Gaza is affiliated with the de facto authorities and thus UK Aid can be linked directly or indirectly with supporting the de factor [sic] authority (Hamas) in Gaza which is part of a proscribed group.”
The British government contributed $23.1 million to UNICEF for distribution within Gaza.
The UK also funds the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an NGO that also delivers cash assistance to Hamas. According to the NRC’s “Gaza Crisis Response Plan” last year, the group fundraised more than $11 million to be distributed within Gaza and shares close ties with Hamas’ MoSD.
“NRC fosters strong partnerships with national and local authorities, particularly with the MoSD in Gaza and the West Bank, ensuring targeted assistance through the Gaza Protection Consortium’s cash programming,” the NRC document said.
Israel’s support for Hamas
The UK is not alone in its support for Hamas. Other countries that knowingly support the terror group include Qatar and Israel.
According to a March report from the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, the Israeli government enabled the October 7th massacre of its citizens by ensuring Hamas remained well-funded, despite claiming to be at war with the terror organization.
Hamas, originally an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement, launched in the 1980s with the support of Israel’s government. Israeli leaders claim the group was financed as controlled opposition to Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). But Israel did more than finance Hamas—it gave the organization a base with which to set up operations and establish itself as a legitimate government. In 2005, the Israeli government expelled Gaza’s 8,000 Jewish residents and withdrew from the strip, knowing it would likely become an operating ground for Hamas to build a government and military. That happened in 2007 when Hamas took over Gaza and installed itself as the ruling faction after "winning" an election run by the PLO (which may have been rigged to create a good cop-bad cop choice for Israelis). Since then, Israel has protected Hamas financially, both via donations allowed to pass to Hamas from Qatar and “humanitarian aid.” In 2020, when Qatar wanted to discontinue financing to Hamas, then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen flew to Doha and convinced Qatari officials to maintain payments to the terror group.
The Shin Bet confirmed in its report that this financing enabled Hamas to carry out its attack that killed over 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children and took 240 hostage, according to the Jerusalem Post. The agency has also said that the “humanitarian aid” Israel sends into Gaza goes to Hamas, which then sells the "free" aid for a substantial price.
The aid Hamas has been receiving—with Israel’s approval—not only enabled the October 7th invasion but has also prolonged the war by sustaining the terror group, insiders say. Rafael Hayon, an Israeli operative who monitors Hamas communications, recently said the organization was prepared to surrender earlier in the war until they suddenly received a major influx of food, water, and fuel to distribute for free to Hamas members while selling to other Gazans.
