The US has imposed new sanctions aimed at disrupting Hamas’s funding streams after its deadly attacks in Israel.
They target nine individuals and one entity, all based in the Middle East and Africa, and are intended to block access to funds held in the US.
But who funds Hamas?
The Palestinian militant group has a complex financing network it uses to funnel support from charities and private donors, as well as friendly nations such as Iran and Qatar.
Cash gets passed through its underground tunnel network or using cryptocurrencies to bypass international sanctions after it was designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and EU.
The US state department said it has evidence that Iran provides up to $100m (£82.3m) to Palestinian groups including Hamas annually.
Iran denied it helped Hamas to attack Israel – which it does not recognise – but cheered the results.
Qatar has also paid hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza since 2014.
Hamas also raises revenue through taxes on salaries, aid, imports and other economic activity within Gaza.
Israel police said they recently worked with the UK to freeze a Barclays bank account linked to fundraising for Hamas, and had also successfully frozen cryptocurrency accounts being used by the group to solicit funds.
Research firm TRM Labs said Israeli authorities have seized “tens of millions of dollars” in crypto from Hamas-linked addresses in recent years.
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