In the ongoing dispute between Israel and Hamas, the cyber division of Lahav 433, a unit of Israel Police, has successfully blocked cryptocurrency accounts associated with Hamas. The organization's accounts were reportedly being used to solicit funds through social media platforms.
Israel's news website Ctech reported that Lahab 433, the National Bureau for counterterrorism financing, was part of a collaboration involving the Ministry of Defense, Shin Bet, and other intelligence agencies. They were aiming to identify and disable cryptocurrency infrastructures that terrorist organizations could exploit for funding.
Hamas had launched a fundraising campaign on social networking sites, urging the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into its accounts. The cyber unit and NBCTF quickly identified these accounts and froze them with the assistance of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The stolen money is to be transferred to the state treasury.
Binance had previously filed a civil action against the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March for multiple violations, including potential criminal activities like money laundering. In February 2019, Binance had not taken any action against its platform.
In a parallel operation, Lahav 433 collaborated with British law enforcement to freeze an account in Barclays bank in the UK that Hamas had publicly shared for receiving donations. The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israel Police have reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorism financing and seizing terrorist assets.