Taking advantage of heightened hostility and anger of Muslims over Israel’s ongoing military operations against Hamas in Gaza, radical Islamic militancy outfit such as Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda are collecting large amount of money from their sympathizers mostly through crypto donations. According to a report in the Homeland Security Today, jihadist groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State, and their sympathizers have been tapping into the heightened hostility and anger of Muslims over Israel’s aerial bombardment and military invasion of Gaza to bolster their financial resources through crowdfunding campaigns. In this context, the role of digital currencies like Tether and Bitcoin coupled with the use of decentralized crypto exchange platforms by militant jihadist groups to launder funds has come under intense scrutiny after the Hamas October 7 pogrom in Israel.
It said, “Recent monitoring by ICSVE suggests that entities linked to Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda are building on past successes of exploiting sympathy for the Palestinians and now deeply exploiting the Israel-Hamas conflict to boost their crowdfunding endeavors. Some pro-Al Qaeda entities are even claiming to provide financial assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, primarily through cryptocurrency proceeds.
It may be mentioned here that, in 2005 Iranian proxy Hamas leaders completely rejected Al Qaeda leaders’ calls for Hamas to boycott elections and to enroll in global jihad with Al Qaeda claiming that even if they won, the West would never allow them to govern. But the recent affiliation sympathy of Al Qaeda and ISIS towards Hamas raises question if it has aligned itself with these global terrorist organizations.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recent claimed to found an ISIS flag left behind in the October 7 raids and that ISIS-style beheadings were committed by Hamas.
Meanwhile, a prominent Al Qaeda supporter asked acolytes of this global terrorist group to exercise caution regarding Gaza-related aid fundraisers, stating, “The donations collected in the name of Gaza are very large. In order to ensure the sincerity and honesty of the parties that collect donations, ask them to publish pictures and videos of the items that they distribute to the displaced people in schools and other refuge places”.
According to counterterrorism experts, charity fundraising and provision of humanitarian aid and services by terrorist groups and their supporters is nothing new. Terrorist groups have long furthered their own financial gains by capitalizing on political turmoil, conflicts, or natural disasters and the failure of governments to provide adequate and timely aid. In March 2023, ICSVE documented Islamic State in Pakistan province’s Nashir Al Pakistan media fund raise on Telegram as they encouraged ISIS supporters to contribute crypto transfers under the guise of assisting earthquake victims in northwestern Syria. The group utilized currencies like Ethereum, Monero, and USDT to solicit donations. Apparently, their success warrants continuing these fundraising efforts for other fighters as well amidst the Israeli/Hamas conflict.
It said, a crowdfunding initiative for Gaza, known as “Strive with your Money” has been gaining momentum. This campaign is ostensibly run by an independent jihadist ideologue of Palestinian origin and the former Sharia member of Hayat Taharir Al Sham, Sheikh Zubair Al Ghazi from the HTS-held province of Idlib, Syria. Since the campaign’s announcement in mid-October, there were claims made by Al Ghazi that US$500,000 in Tether donations and fiat currency had been collected through crowdfunding efforts until mid-November, primarily from Central Asia and Russia, which could be confirmed by monitoring the transaction history of the provided Tron wallet for sending donations.
To lend legitimacy to the crowdfunding campaign, Al Ghazi disseminated in the Telegram channel receipts and screenshots of crypto transfers worth thousands of dollars. Videos shared by Al Ghazi document that the jihadist group Turkistan Islamic Party’s branch in Syria and Afghanistan also contributed around US$34,000 in the form of cash handouts for relief assistance.
Sheikh Al Ghazi’s channel also regularly disseminates propaganda from Hamas’s military wing, Al Qassam Brigades. Al Qaeda’s jihadist literature, including that of the killed Al Qaeda veteran leader Abu Yahya Al Libi. With Hamas suspending bitcoin donations in March 2023 citing security concerns for its supporters and facing aggressive crackdowns by the US Treasury and Israeli government leading to the seizure of Hamas’s crypto assets, worth millions of dollars, crowdfunding campaigns like these potentially provide illicit financing via a humanitarian facade. Such campaigns, masquerading as charity initiatives, enable militant groups like Hamas to launder funds crucial for fueling the group’s terrorist activities, warfare, recruitment, and outreach efforts.
The donations collected are not insubstantial. From September to December the Islamic State in Pakistan’s province-linked bitcoin address on the other hand ostensibly laundered US$30 million as outbound transfers as a part of the convoluted money laundering network. This occurred in part due to that in December 2023, in the pro-Islamic State media discourse, supporters circulated ISPP’s media, Nashir Al Pakistan’s, plea of sending donations for “ISIS Mujahideen” in Pakistan through Pakistan-based digital payment platforms like Easy Paiza and Jazz Cash and cryptocurrency by sharing the Bitcoin and Tether wallet addresses which were later deleted.
In this context, it’s noteworthy that blockchain investigators have found crypto wallets have been used by terror entities using various channels, including stolen credit card vendors, dark web markets, Ponzi schemes, and crypto investment scams for laundering illicit money.
