The Israeli business website Globes reported yesterday that leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas are currently worth billions of dollars.
The article, based on the research of Col. (res.) Dr. Moshe Elad, looks closely at Hamas leaders Moussa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Meshaal, the latter of whom lives in Qatar.
Together with the donations from various countries, fundraisers began operating in the US to collect money for Hamas. Here, the Hamas leaders began to get their hands on some really big money. “One of those fundraisers was Dr. Musa Abu Marzook, the number 2 man in Hamas,” Elad says. “At the beginning of the 1990s, he began a fundraising campaign in the US among wealthy Muslims, while at the same time founding several banking enterprises. He himself became a conglomerate of 10 financial enterprises giving loans and making financial investments. He’s an amazing financier.”
The US administration ordered Marzook’s arrest in 1995 on charges of supporting terrorism. After he spent two years in a US prison, it was decided to expel him without trial. He kept the money. …
Another Hamas leader-turned-tycoon is Khaled Mashaal. “Estimates around the world are that Mashaal is currently worth $2.6 billion, but the numbers mentioned by the Arab commentators (based on their many sources) are much higher, varying from $2-5 billion invested in Egyptian and Persian Gulf banks, and some in real estate projects in the Persian Gulf countries,” Elad adds.
Hamas’s former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh isn’t quite as rich as his colleagues, though a Ynet article from earlier this month extensively documented his wealth. In Globes, Elad also noted that Haniyeh’s children “have homes in good neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, where the value of every home is at least $1 million.”
This reporting raises many questions about Hamas’ finances. The organization is said to be in dire financial straits even though its leaders are living quite well. Between their personal wealth amid Gaza’s crushing poverty, and the extensive resources they have devoted to building terror tunnels to attack Israel, Hamas’ leaders have demonstrated a marked lack of concern for ordinary Gazans.
[Photo: Trango / WikiCommons ]