Bennett: Hamas’s Iranian funds to be seized

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett signed an order Thursday to seize some $4 million in funds transferred from Iran to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The funds are “intended to develop terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including the production of weapons as well as payments to the organization’s operatives,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The order signed by Bennett targets the Elmhadon Gaza currency-exchange company owned by Zuhir Shmalach and his family.

Shmalach took the place of Hamed Ahmed Abed Khudri, who was killed in a targeted strike by the IDF in May. Khudri, who the IDF said was in charge of large-scale money transfers from Iran to terrorist groups in the Strip, was close to Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar. It was the first targeted assassination since 2014.

The order against Shmalach will prevent him and his family from working internationally by limiting their movement to some countries. It will also limit the company’s ability to conduct activities with international financial bodies.

“The Iranian octopus feeds terrorism all around us,” Bennett said. “Our counterterrorism activity is not only on the battlefield but also against their wallet. We are in an extensive economic campaign against terrorist activities around the world, and to make killing Israelis an unprofitable endeavor, we will pursue anyone who harms us.”

The move is part of a series of Bennett’s economic actions against Palestinian terrorism.

In December, he authorized the seizure of hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of funds paid by the Palestinian Authority to eight jailed Arab-Israeli terrorists and their families. He also signed an order placing targeted economic restrictions on members of terrorist organizations in Israel and around the world.