Stephen Reimer

Hamas’s international financial web is now “immune from Israeli shells”, experts believe – meaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will struggle to achieve his goal of destroying the militant group. Stephen Reimer, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) specialising in financial crime, told i that “the total destruction of Hamas would not come to pass even if “all of Gaza is levelled to the ground”. “Its financial network is truly global, making it immune from Israeli shells,” he said. “Its global financial network extends way beyond Gaza and even the Middle East.” ...Elsewhere, banking systems in countries like Qatar and Turkey have acted as a “conduit” for Hamas funding, according to Mr Reimer – some of Turkey’s biggest banks, including Kuveyt Turk, have been accused by Israel and America of knowingly storing Hamas’s cash. “[Hamas] is not designated as a terrorist organisation by all governments,” Mr Reimer explained, “so they can evade sanctions by operating in jurisdictions where the government might be looking the other way.”

The militant group Hamas raised funds for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel through a series of companies in foreign countries – some of which have been hit with US sanctions. As The World’s Durrie Bouscaren reports, U.S. officials say Turkey has served as a staging ground for financial activities tied to Hamas. Cutting off the money supply has not been easy. Senior Research Fellow at RUSI, Stephen Reimer joins us.

"The sophistication of the attacks and the various elements that went into these attacks surely indicate not just a need for expensive equipment and weapons, but also very sophisticated training. And obviously, all of these things cost quite a bit of money. I think October 7 reflects something about Hamas's financial status, namely Hamas being quite financially well-off. But terrorist groups need more than just lots of money to wage an attack like what we saw on October 7. And it also requires access to intelligence, access to training and expertise. Finance is just one part of it."