The Israel Police have frozen crypto accounts held at Binance allegedly used by Hamas to collect crypto donations as tensions between Israel and Hamas escalate. In addition, the Israel Police have frozen a Hamas-linked account at Barclays Bank.
Hamas-Linked Crypto Accounts at Binance Frozen
The Israel Police’s official account on social media platform X announced on Tuesday that cryptocurrency accounts associated with Hamas held at Binance have been frozen. The Palestinian militant organization is currently at war with Israel. The announcement details:
The Israel Police’s Cyber Unit, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, the Israel Security Agency, and other national intelligence agencies, has successfully frozen cryptocurrency accounts used by Hamas for fundraising their activities.
According to a separate announcement in Hebrew as translated by Google, the Israel Police’s cyber unit, Lahav 433, has frozen cryptocurrency accounts “which were used by Hamas to collect donations on social networks.” The police explained that following the outbreak of the war, Hamas launched an online fundraising campaign, asking the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into its accounts. The announcement continues:
The officers of the Cyber Unit of the Police and the National Headquarters for Economic Warfare acted immediately to locate the accounts and freeze them, with the help of the crypto exchange Binance, in order to transfer the funds to the state treasury.
Moreover, the Israel Police stated that it has also frozen a bank account at Barclays Bank used by Hamas. “The Police Cyber Unit worked in coordination with the British police and managed to freeze an additional account at the British ‘Barclays’ bank, the details of which were published by Hamas for the purpose of depositing donation funds,” Tuesday’s announcement notes. “The Israel Police, Ministry of Defense, and other partners will continue the fight against terrorist financing and targeting the strategic financial assets of terrorist organizations.”
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