Explained: Who funds Hamas? How terror group gets money and military equipment

The Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented terror attack from Gaza into Israel this past weekend. It was one of the most serious escalations since Israel's creation in 1948 as hundreds of people were killed on both sides.

More than 1,500 Hamas militants stormed through the Gaza security barrier on October 7 in a coordinated land, air and sea attack.

They used sophisticated weapons, despite the fact that the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza is a poor and densely populated area, with limited resources.

But the matter of concern here is that the advanced and precision weapons are becoming part of the arsenal of Hamas, a group that has been designated a terrorist organisation by dozens of countries.

Who funds Hamas?

Several nations including the US and the UK have designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation, while some countries label only their military wing as terrorists.

The terror designation means providing aid or material support to such organisations, including volunteering to join them is considered a criminal activity. Hence, it becomes difficult for the militants to ask for military aid.

But they are getting it.

Here at WION, we are decoding the routes of the financial help and arms supply.

For a better understanding of its financial sources, it is important to know about the two wings of Hamas — the social service wing, Dawah, and the military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The social service wing is an active part of collecting funds as it looks after providing education, healthcare, and social services to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The money trail

Iran's name comes when the question arises on how is Hamas financed. Tehran accounts for roughly 70 per cent of the funding.

Palestinian expatriates and private donors across the world provided much of the funding to the Hamas movement.

Reports have claimed that they also receivedmoney through some Islamic charities in the West via Hamas-backed social service groups. This also led to the freezing of assets by the US Treasury as and when identified.

Besides Iran, Turkey has also supported Hamas, especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rise to power in 2002.

Turkey has been accused of funding the Hamas militants through aid diverted from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency. But it says it only backs the political movement.

The military aid:

Not just money-wise, Iran also helps the militant group in the form of military assistance and necessary training. The West argues that the military aid has, more-or-less, remained despite a drop in financial contribution because of recent economic sanctions.

The West contendsthat the weapons are supplied to Hamas after arms smugglers drop them on the shore along the Mediterranean Sea despite the Israeli Navy's vigilance.

As an alternative route, the smugglers use tunnels for weapon supply. They delivered M-302 and Fajr-3, which is an Iranian-built unguided surface-to-surface artillery rocket.

CIA mentioned in its World Factbook that "Hamas acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction and receives some military support from Iran". But a direct role of Iran is yet to be established.

As quoted by a news site, Bilal Saab, who is senior fellow and director of the Defense and Security Program at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, said: "Hamas' tunnel infrastructure is still massive despite Israel and Egypt regularly degrading it."

"Hamas has received arms from Iran smuggled into the (Gaza) Strip via tunnels. This often included longer-range systems," said Daniel Byman, who is a senior fellow with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the MEI said that "Iran has also been shipping Hamas its more advanced… ballistic missiles via sea, in components for construction in Gaza".

Iran has long financially and militarily backed Hamas but has insisted it had no involvement in the group's assault that erupted Saturday.

What does the West say?

After the recent attack, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the Palestinian militant group Hamas would not have been able to launch its "unprecedented" attacks on Israel without having had Iranian support in recent years.

"So far, we have no tangible evidence that Iran gave concrete and operational support to this cowardly attack. But it is clear to all of us that without Iranian support over the last few years, Hamas would not have been able to carry out these unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory," Scholz said in an address to parliament.

US President JoeBiden warned Iran to "be careful". He said, "We made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful."

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What exactly is Hamas?

Hamas is one of the two major political parties in Palestinian territories. It governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, however, it is more popular for its armed resistance to Israel.

Hamas was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada (or uprising). It is backed by Shi'ite Iran and shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was established in Egypt in the 1920s.

Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, after a brief civil war with forces loyal to the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank. He also heads the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The Hamas takeover of Gaza followed its win in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 – the last time they were held. Hamas accused Abbas of conspiring against it. Abbas described what happened as a coup.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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