Police and financial police arrested nine people accused of funding Hamas with seven million euros through associations.

The precautionary measures were issued as part of an investigation coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia and Counterterrorism Directorate. Precautionary measures were taken against nine suspects, all of whom are currently being held in prison, and three associations.

Among those arrested is the president of the Association of Palestinians in Italy. Investigators describe Mohammad Hannoun as a "member of the foreign branch of the terrorist organization Hamas" and "leader of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization."

«The investigations and the facts that have emerged through them – write the national Anti-Mafia and Anti-terrorism prosecutor Giovanni Mlillo and the prosecutor of Genoa Nicola Piacente – cannot in any way detract from the importance of the crimes committed against the Palestinian population after 7 October 2023 during the military operations undertaken by the Government of Israel , for which the judgment of the International Criminal Court is awaited».

"At the same time," they add, "these crimes cannot justify the acts of terrorism (including those of October 7, 2023) committed by Hamas and its associated terrorist organizations against the civilian population, nor constitute a mitigating circumstance."

Who is Mohammad Hannoun

Hannoun, 63, lives in Genoa and is an architect by profession. He holds Jordanian citizenship but has lived in Italy for 40 years. In 1994, he founded the Association for Solidarity with the Palestinian People (ABSPP). In 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted Hannoun and his ABSPP as financiers of terrorism. The Palestinian activist has always denied the accusation.

On November 15, 2024, the Milan Police Headquarters issued him a one-year expulsion order for inciting hatred and violence: at a rally, Hannoun had praised the youths in Amsterdam who had attacked Israeli Maccabi fans who were insulting Arabs. After October 7, he participated in numerous demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Gaza and was very active in supporting the Sumud Flotilla, which departed partly from Genoa and attempted to break the Israeli blockade. In October of this year, Hannoun received another one-year expulsion order from Milan for justifying Hamas's killings of alleged collaborators: "After the truce," he said, "the Palestinian resistance, which paid with blood, achieved justice, as in all revolutions around the world."

(Unioneonline)

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