Gantz signs seizure orders on $120,000 worth of goods aimed for Hamas
Israel’s Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz signed Monday morning seizure orders on $121,000 worth of merchandise that were transferred via commercial companies from Turkey to Hamas militants in the West Bank.
“We will continue to be relentless on terror and track down its infrastructure anywhere it exists — in Israel or beyond,” Gantz said in a statement released by the Defense Ministry.
“I commend the ongoing work of the NBCTF [Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing] at the Defense Ministry, along with the Shin Bet [Israeli Security Agency] and Customs and all of our security agencies, who work together day in and day out to prevent funds and resources from reaching terror organizations.”
Hamas has an official office building in Istanbul, which deals mainly with fundraising, and Israel has, on multiple occasions, demanded Turkey boot the terrorist organization out of the country.
In January, amid reports that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was seeking to thaw relations with Jerusalem, Israel reportedly conditioned any change of ties with the closure of Hamas’ operations in Istanbul.
Moreover, a The Times report in October, 2020 suggested that the Gaza-ruling faction formed a secret base in Istanbul about two years ago, from which it carried out cyberattacks against its enemies.
According to the report, the cyber headquarters were set up without the knowledge of the Turkish government and is run by Hamas’ military wing in Gaza.
Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/1613385641-israel-moves-against-money-transfer-channel-between-turkey-hamas
