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Financing Terrorism

The Palestinian Authority is looking for creative ways to continue transferring payments to terrorist prisoners and to families of shaheeds, circumventing Israeli opposition

On November 17, 2020, Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the PA General Authority of Civil Affairs and member of Fatah's Central Committee, as well as a close associate of Mahmoud Abbas, announced the resumption of ties between the PA and Israel in their previous format. From the PA’s perspective, one of the key issues in the resumption of ties with Israel is the renewal of the transfer of the tax revenue funds that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority.
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Hezbollah expands its banking services due to US pressure on the Lebanese banking system

Hezbollah maintains an extensive network of social foundations in the Shiite community in Lebanon. These foundations deal with healthcare, education, finance, welfare, and communications. They also support Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and serve as a means of disseminating Hezbollah’s ideology and strengthening its position among the Shiite community and in the internal Lebanese arena.
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The Palestinian Authority continues preparations for founding a bank which will enable it to transfer funds to terrorist prisoners and the families of shaheeds

On June 1, 2020, the Palestinian Authority (PA) government authorized the founding of a government bank to channel funds to Palestinian terrorist prisoners and the families of shaheeds. That came after the commercial banks in Judea and Samaria froze the accounts of the prisoners and shaheed families and refused to transfer the monthly payment from the PA to their accounts. The future bank will be called the Bank of Independence for Development and Investment.
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New Hamas Fundraising Campaign: Hamas’ military wing began a new fundraising campaign about a month after the United States thwarted digital coin campaigns of Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS

On September 13, 2020, al-Jazeera TV broadcast an investigative report in its program "More Than Meets the Eye." The program dealt with the military buildup of the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, and its improved fighting capabilities. After the broadcast, and in the wake of the normalization of Israel's relations with the UAE and Bahrain, a campaign was launched on the social networks (in Arabic) called "#support_the_resistance."
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Kataeb Hezbollah: Profile of a Shiite-Iraqi militia handled by the Qods Force to promote Iranian interests in Iraq (Full Version)

Kataeb Hezbollah (“Hezbollah Brigades”) is a radical Shiite militia of a clearly anti-American nature with a Khomeinist ideology. It was established by the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in 2007 in southern Iraq with the objective of fighting against the US army and ousting it from Iraq. It is the most prominent among the Shiite militias handled by Iran, prioritized in military and financial support from the IRGC’s Qods Force.
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The Palestinian Authority takes practical steps to set up a government bank to handle payments to prisoners and families of shaheeds

a government bank which will serve as a channel for transferring funds to prisoners and families of shaheeds. The establishment of the new bank was intended to bypass the order issued by the Commander of the IDF Central Command prohibiting banks from providing banking services to prisoners and families of shaheeds in Judea and Samaria. In the wake of the order, several Palestinian and Arab banks announced a freeze on the bank accounts of prisoners and families of shaheeds. On the other hand, Mahmoud Abbas and PA officials again pledged to transfer the funds to the prisoners and families of shaheeds, calling them a “red line” and “sacred salaries.”
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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.