An Israeli news portal is reporting on a new Forbes survey that lists Hamas as the second richest terror group in the world with finances of around $1 billion. According to the Europe Israel News report:
January 5, 2017 Hamas is the second richest terror group in the world, with finances of around $1 billion, according to a report published by Forbes Israel this week listing the top 10 wealthiest terror groups.
The Palestinian Islamist organization, which rules the Gaza Strip and collects taxes and aid money, is second only to the Islamic State, which has some $2 billion dollars at its disposal.
Third on the list is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army, better known as FARC, with some $600 million, while Lebanon-based Hezbollah came out fourth with $500 million. The Taliban, with an estimated $400 million, rounds out the top five.
The report does not detail where the terror groups get their money from, but Hamas had been able to control imports into the Gaza Strip through a series of smuggling tunnels from Sinai before they were largely destroyed by Egypt’s army over the last two years.
The organization is also backed by international donors like Qatar who donate money to the Strip.
Palestinians have asked the international community to donate some $4 billion to the Strip to help rehabilitation efforts after the summer war with Israel, though countries have expressed concerns about the money going to the hands of Hamas.
During a one-day donor conference in October, international envoys pledged about $5.4 billion in aid for the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of State John Kerry announced immediate US assistance of $212 million as the conference began.
Hamas’s billion pales in comparison to the Islamic State’s vast wealth.”
Read the rest here.
The Hamas charter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and soon after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the newly-opened border to review Hamas military formations. A Hamas journalist has acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons and Hamas is known to be supported financially and politically by the global Muslim Brotherhood. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman revealed that a coalition of London-based Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, were behind the mass demonstrations staged to protest Israeli actions in the 2008 Gaza war and the Global Muslim Brotherhood and its Turkish affiliates were also intimately involved, along with the Turkish government, in the June 2010 Gaza flotilla that was involved in a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces. Following a period of seeming ascension related to the period of Egyptian rule by the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization was forced to scramble to try and find other state sponsors after Mohamed Morsi was deposed as President. In September 2013, it appeared that Hamas had succeeded in re-establishing close ties with Iran. In January 2013, Israeli intelligence sources claimed that Turkey has replaced Iran as the chief source of Hamas financing.