Israel freezes cryptocurrency accounts used to solicit donations for Hamas

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Israel freezes cryptocurrency accounts used to solicit donations for Hamas

LONDON - Israel has frozen cryptocurrency accounts used to solicit donations for the Palestinian militant group Hamas on social media, police said on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Hamas attacked Israel and Israel in one of the most serious escalations in the Israel-Palestinian conflict in years.

A fundraising campaign has been launched by the terrorist organisation on social networks, urging the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into their accounts, a police statement said.

The statement did not give further details of how many accounts were frozen, nor the value of crypto seized.

The Reuters news agency could not reach Hamas spokespeople for comment.

Binance's spokeswoman said the exchange 'actively partners' with global law enforcement agencies and regulators.

Hamas had endorsed crypto as a fundraising method for years, but said it would stop receiving funding via the cryptocurrency bitcoin in April due to an increase in 'hostile' activity against donors.

The Israel government has seized around 190 crypto accounts, including two that were linked to Islamic State and dozens owned by Palestinian firms connected to Hamas, Reuters reported in May.

Binance said it works with law enforcement and 'leverages information which is only available to them in order to identify individuals operating accounts for illegal organisations'.