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Financing Terrorism

Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (July 27 – August 4, 2026)

A new round of talks between Lebanon and Israel began in Rome on August 4, 2026. The Lebanese delegation focuses on halting Israeli strikes and advancing additional IDF withdrawals from south Lebanon; Hezbollah secretary general called on the Lebanese authorities to halt the negotiations, claiming they only involved Lebanese concessions to Israel; ; The Lebanese army continued to consolidate its control over the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya as part of the pilot areas plan, but claimed legal restrictions prevented them from searching private homes and accused Israel's strikes of hindering its mission; IDF forces destroyed key Hezbollah underground facilities in the Beaufort Ridge area and continued locating weapons and eliminating terrorists in the security zone; The Lebanese president visited Turkey, and Ankara is reportedly interested in participating in a future multinational force to be deployed in south Lebanon once UNIFIL's mandate ends. 
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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (July 20-27, 2026)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with the American president at the White House and noted the importance of activating the framework agreement and "dealing with" Hezbollah's weapons while avoiding an internal Lebanese confrontation; Activating the first stage of the framework agreement began with the deployment of the Lebanese army in three pilot areas towns in south Lebanon; Prime Minister Salam visited the south Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, where he said the army's deployment was the first step toward the return of the residents and reconstruction. Hezbollah claimed there had been no Israeli withdrawal and an IDF shooting incident involving Lebanese army forces proved Israel still controlled south Lebanon; Hezbollah accused the IDF of a series of ceasefire violations, including airstrikes which wounded two members of Hezbollah's medical organization; Hezbollah did not respond to the alleged attack; Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei wrote a letter to Hezbollah in which he said Iran supported the complete end of "Zionist aggression" in accordance with the memorandum of understanding with the United States. The Iranian leadership was reportedly disappointed with Hezbollah's performance in the confrontation with Israel and was increasing its control over the organization's decision-making; Syrian President al-Sharaa said Syria would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to deal with Hezbollah's disarmament, adding that he supported the Lebanese state's monopoly on arms.
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Turkey: Center for Hamas Leadership and Coordination

Since 2003, the ties between Hamas and Erdoğan's Turkey have grown stronger and have been manifested by Turkey's hosting senior movement figures, political and diplomatic support and economic and humanitarian assistance; Hamas also turned Turkey into an important foothold from which it directs attacks on Israeli targets and raises funds to finance terrorist activities; During the last several months, the Hamas leadership had begun transferring its organizational activity from Qatar to Turkey for "security" reasons and due to the consequences of the war in Iran; Coordination between the Hamas and the Turkish leaderships increased regarding the continued implementation of the agreement, despite Turkey's status as guarantors of the agreement and mediators.
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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (July 13-20, 2026)

The Lebanese and Israeli delegations completed another round of direct talks in Rome under American mediation and principles were formulated for implementing the first phase of the framework agreement, which will enable the deployment of the Lebanese army. Israel was accused delaying the withdrawal of IDF forces from the pilot areas to preserve leverage; Lebanese President Aoun arrived in the United States for talks with senior American administration officials to persuade them to pressure Israel to start implementing the framework agreement and to secure American support for the Lebanese army; Hezbollah and Amal criticized the framework agreement, claiming the objective of the pilot areas was to maintain an Israeli presence in south Lebanon and eventually disarm the "resistance." The Hezbollah-affiliated editor of al-Akhbar claimed a demand for Israel's withdrawal from all south Lebanon appeared in the draft framework agreement, but Lebanese President Aoun ordered it removed; IDF forces continued operations in the security zone in south Lebanon, destroying Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and eliminating terrorists who posed a threat. Hezbollah accused Israel of "violating the ceasefire," but did not actively respond. A Lebanese army soldier was killed in an explosion in south Lebanon; the IDF reported it had been caused by an explosive device planted by Hezbollah; Hezbollah reorganized its units in south Lebanon and reduced its activity in the border villages; The Syrian interior ministry announced that the smuggling of a large quantity of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon had been prevented near the border with Iraq, including 150 explosive UAVs, and long-range and anti-tank missiles.
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Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis (July 8—15, 2026)

An Iranian diplomatic delegation visited Lebanon and met with the Speaker of Parliament. The Iranian Foreign Minister met with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon; It was reported that a message conveyed by the Iranian leadership to the Hezbollah leadership and the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament stated that Tehran had made it clear to the mediators in the negotiations with the United States that ending the war in Lebanon is its highest priority; Iranian commentators expressed strong doubts about the prospects of disarming Hezbollah; It was reported that the Iranian leadership had acceded to requests by the Hamas leadership to link the end of the war in the Gaza Strip to the negotiations with the United States and to continue supporting the reconstruction of the movement’s military wing; The Iraqi Prime Minister met with President Trump at the White House and stressed that he is committed to the disarmament of the militias once the US military presence in Iraq concludes in late September 2026. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq condemned the visit and stressed that it would not surrender its weapons; The major pro-Iranian militias in Iraq threatened to resume attacks against US targets amid the escalation between the United States and Iran.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 7-14, 2026)

Hamas announced the dissolution of its government emergency committee in preparation for transferring administrative responsibilities to the national committee for the administration of Gaza. However, it continued to enforce physical control by executing alleged collaborators and displaying flags at the funerals of eliminated terrorist operatives. Members of the Board of Peace said they would judge actions rather than declarations; IDF forces continued operating within the Yellow Line and other areas of the Gaza Strip, destroying terrorist infrastructure and eliminating more than ten terrorists who were involved in advancing attacks or restoring Hamas' military capabilities. Many of them had participated in the atrocities of the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre and held hostages. Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip reportedly survived an attempted targeted killing; his bodyguard was killed; A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks with the mediators on the remaining bones of contention, including weapons, the future of public-sector employees in the Gaza Strip and the IDF withdrawal; A senior UN official condemned Hamas after armed men attacked a food distribution point and a warehouse belonging to an international aid organization; An international pro-Palestinian campaign is calling for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, who is being detained in Israel because of his status as a senior Hamas officer and his involvement in terrorist activity carried out at the hospital; Hamas has reportedly transferred a significant portion of its "organizational activity" to Turkey for "security reasons" and to reduce American and Israeli pressure on Qatar to expel the movement's leadership.
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Financing Terrorism

A terrorist organization must have sources of financing to finance and carry out all of its activity and goals. Without financing sources, it will be difficult for the organization to exist and carry out its goals. Without financing, the organization will not be able to handle, support and equip its operatives, and prepare and maintain a reasonable infrastructure for its activity.

Terrorist financing can be divided into two main goals: financing a focused act of terrorism with a clear goal. In this case, the financing activity will be limited in scope, amount and time. The other type of goal is a broader goal of establishing, maintaining, and cultivating the terrorist infrastructure, organizational structure, purchasing, ongoing expenses, payment of salaries and more. In this case, the financing activity is not limited in time, ceiling or financial scope.

Most of the money for terrorism financing comes from terror-sponsoring countries, among which Iran is prominent (and is involved in the financing of terrorism carried out by Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad). Terrorist organizations have additional sources of financing, such as revenues from criminal activity (Hezbollah), the sale of oil products, and the collection of taxes from the population (ISIS). Other organizations finance terrorism with funds obtained from sources such as donations, charities, commercial profits, etc., which were diverted to terrorism financing.

In recent years there has been growing recognition of the importance of thwarting terrorist financing channels as part of the effort to thwart terrorist activity. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the international struggle against terror financing gained momentum, and it was decided to integrate the international struggle against terrorism into the struggle against terrorism financing and even to streamline it through legislation and counterterrorism activities. However, as the struggle against terrorism financing increases, the methods of terrorism financing become more sophisticated and diverse, making it more difficult to monitor the sources of terrorism financing and to cope with them.