Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, collaborated with Israeli police to freeze multiple cryptocurrency accounts associated with Hamas following the recent conflict in the Middle East. Israeli authorities, including the Police Cyber Unit 433, the National Headquarters for Economic Warfare Against Terrorism (MATAL), the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and various intelligence agencies, have been actively monitoring cryptocurrency systems used by terrorist groups for fundraising.
Hamas initiated a fundraising campaign during the conflict, urging the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into their accounts. In response, Israeli authorities took immediate action to locate and freeze these accounts, with the assistance of Binance, to redirect the funds to the state treasury.
It is worth noting that since 2021, Israeli authorities had already taken control of approximately 190 Binance accounts suspected of having connections to terrorist organizations. Binance has previously worked with Israeli authorities to combat terrorism financing associated with entities like Iran’s Quds Force and Hezbollah.
Terrorist organizations have been using cryptocurrencies for fundraising and evading international sanctions. In 2019, Hamas turned to cryptocurrency donations as a means to circumvent sanctions, and similar practices have been observed with other groups. USDT (Tether) is a commonly used cryptocurrency due to its price stability relative to the US dollar.
