On Saturday 7 October 2023, the religious holiday of Simchat Torah, in an act of war, over a thousand terrorists of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) which have been designated as terrorist organizations by Israel, the US, the EU and other countries infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air at several locations and advanced towards Israeli communities and population centers near the Gaza Strip.
This was carried out in conjunction with indiscriminate rocket fire targeting towns and cities in the south, the center of the country, and Jerusalem (more than 6,600 rockets and missiles have been launched so far) with the intent of maximizing harm to civilians.
The terrorists penetrated the southern towns, villages and communities and began a murderous killing spree of families and individuals in their homes, in the streets and at a music festival that was being held in the area. They abducted everyone they happened upon on their return to the Gaza Strip – with an emphasis on families, women and children.
Thus far, more than 1,400 people have been murdered in Israel and more than 5,400 wounded to varying degrees. It is also reported that more than 220 people are classified as captive after being kidnapped and taken to Gaza and many more are still missing. Among the victims, approximately 152 of those murdered and 141 of the missing hold foreign citizenship (including dual citizenship). These numbers are increasing daily.
Current TF activity and possible indicators
Terrorism financing is often conducted under the guise of fundraising campaigns for humanitarian aid and led by various associations, charitable organizations or through private initiatives. Sometimes the fundraising portal can be identified as sympathizing with the terrorist activities and promoting the messages of the terrorist organizations, and on other occasions the front-end seems to relate only to humanitarian aid, but the funds are afterwards directed towards individuals or entities that are affiliated with Hamas or the PIJ. It has been established that since the attack there are ongoing TF campaigns by HAMAS and PIJ disseminated across multiple mediums, including media outlets, crowdfunding sites, instant messaging applications, and various social media networks, while employing a variety of channels and avenues for transferring money, including bank and electronic transfers, credit cards, advanced payment means and cryptocurrency (such as BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC and TRX); These publications are done via venues such as Telegram, X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, both in posts and in comments. In many cases these channels are interconnected, publishing identical or similar messages and providing links to related Telegram or other social media channels and are used both to publish inciting content and serve as a channel to publish messages by the terror organization as well as to provide information on ways to donate funds and provide links to fundraising campaigns. These may refer to the Gaza Strip, to the fighting in Gaza, and sometimes include the involvement of designated entities. Multiple examples and evidence of such activity have already emerged using all such platforms throughout the world and these initiatives have been and are expected to increase as the war continues (see examples in annex a). In recent days some of these crypto addresses, accounts and digital payment means have been blocked. However, we anticipate that alternative venues globally will continue to emerge to support the ongoing TF and donors will be redirected to these alternative sources.
October 26, 2023 Published by The Israel Ministry of Justice. (Download PDF)
