The Hamas Funding Scandal: How “Humanitarian” Charities in Italy Allegedly Bankrolled Terrorism – With Ties Reaching South America
In a stunning blow to international terrorism financing networks, Italian authorities on December 27, 2025, executed Operation Domino, a major anti-terrorism raid that dismantled an alleged Hamas cell operating under the guise of charitable organizations. Nine suspects were arrested, including Mohammad Hannoun, the long-time president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, whom prosecutors describe as the head of Hamas’s Italian branch. Assets worth over €8 million were seized, exposing what investigators call a sophisticated scheme to divert millions in donations—intended for Gaza’s civilians—straight to the terrorist group responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
This operation reveals a disturbing reality: for years, well-meaning Europeans donated to pro-Palestinian causes, believing their money aided humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Instead, prosecutors allege, over 71% of funds collected by three Italian-based associations were funneled to Hamas-linked entities. These included groups in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel that Israeli authorities have designated as illegal due to direct ties to the EU- and U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Some transfers even went personally to Hamas figures, such as former Gaza minister Osama Alisawi.
The main vehicle was the Associazione Benefica di Solidarietà con il Popolo Palestinese (ABSPP), founded in 1994 and led by Hannoun, a Jordanian architect residing in Genoa for decades. When banks like UniCredit and Crédit Agricole froze accounts following U.S. and Israeli alerts, the network allegedly adapted by creating new entities, such as La Cupola d’Oro in Milan. Over the past two years alone, around €7 million—raised through public campaigns portraying aid for Palestinian civilians—was reportedly triangulated through foreign intermediaries to support Hamas’s military wing, families of suicide bombers, and imprisoned terrorists.
Adding to the scandal’s international scope, recent reporting has uncovered potential extensions into South America. Angela Lano, a 62-year-old Italian journalist and director of the pro-Palestinian news agency Infopal.it—who is under investigation for alleged propaganda activities and ties to the network—registered a short-lived company named Infopal in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in February 2023. This entity shares the exact name with her Italian outlet, which reportedly received around €300,000 from Hannoun. While Italian sources focus on European operations, this Brazilian registration raises alarming questions about jihadist financial networks reaching into Latin America, where leftist governments have sometimes shown sympathy for Palestinian causes.
The Brazil Connection in the Hamas Funding Scandal: A Disturbing Extension of Terror Networks into South America
The Italian **Operation Domino** raid on December 27, 2025, exposed not only a Europe-based Hamas financing scheme but also troubling ties reaching into **Brazil**. While the core network operated through Italian “charities” diverting millions to the terrorist group, investigative reporting has revealed a South American angle involving Angela Lano, the 62-year-old Italian journalist under scrutiny for her alleged role in Hamas propaganda.
Lano, director of the pro-Palestinian news agency Infopal.it, registered a company named **Infopal** in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on February 27, 2023. This Brazilian entity mirrors the name of her Italian outlet, which prosecutors say received around €300,000 from lead suspect Mohammad Hannoun—the alleged head of Hamas’s Italian cell. The company was classified under Brazil’s code for media and publishing activities, and a corresponding Brazilian-domain website (infopal.com.br) exists, though details on its operations remain limited.
Lano’s Brazil connections run deeper: she has long been affiliated with the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, where she conducts research on Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, including a postdoctoral role in Afro-Oriental studies. This academic foothold in Bahia—combined with the company registration—raises serious questions about whether the Infopal brand was being extended to facilitate propaganda, fundraising, or other activities supportive of Hamas beyond Europe.
No Italian sources directly allege money flows from Brazil to Hamas in this case, and the Brazilian company appears short-lived with no public evidence of large-scale operations. However, the timing and naming coincidence—amid Lano’s daily contacts with Hannoun and her site’s history of justifying Hamas actions (including post-October 7, 2023, articles framing the massacre as “decolonization”)—fuel concerns about jihadist networks probing softer targets in Latin America.
Brazil has its own history of terror financing vulnerabilities: past operations uncovered Hezbollah cells, and regional sympathies for Palestinian causes under certain leftist administrations have occasionally blurred lines between legitimate advocacy and support for extremists. While not proven here, Lano’s moves suggest an attempt to plant roots in a region where oversight might be laxer, potentially evading European sanctions on figures like Hannoun (U.S.-designated in 2024).
This Brazil link, though peripheral so far, underscores a global threat: Hamas doesn’t confine itself to the Middle East or Europe. It exploits diaspora communities, academic covers, and sympathetic environments worldwide to sustain its terror machine—including the “pay-to-slay” payments that incentivize violence against innocents.
Western democracies, including allies in the Americas, must tighten scrutiny on pro-Palestinian entities that cross into propaganda or financing for designated terrorists. Italy’s bold action disrupted one node; now, authorities in Brazil and elsewhere should investigate whether this Infopal offshoot was a harmless venture or part of a broader, insidious expansion. Complacency risks turning humanitarian sympathy into a lifeline for barbarism. The free world cannot afford to look away.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the raid as a “particularly complex and important operation,” highlighting how “so-called charity organizations” masked support for terrorism. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi called it a veil lifted on deceptive activities pretending to help Palestinians while backing Islamist extremists. The investigation, coordinated by Genoa’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism prosecutors with EU partners via Eurojust, uncovered cash hidden in homes, Hamas flags, propaganda materials, and celebratory Islamic chants glorifying the group.
This scandal underscores a broader threat: terrorist groups like Hamas exploit Western compassion during conflicts to sustain their operations. While genuine humanitarian needs exist in Gaza, this case shows how bad actors hijack charity to fund violence, including payments to families of attackers—Hamas’s notorious “pay-to-slay” incentive. It also raises questions about oversight of pro-Palestinian fundraising in Europe and beyond, where sympathy for civilians can be manipulated.
Hannoun, previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2024, had publicly expressed support for Hamas while denying direct ties. Yet evidence, including intercepted communications praising attacks and meetings with senior Hamas officials abroad, paints a different picture. As Israel continues its defensive war against Hamas—triggered by the barbaric October 7 assault that killed 1,200 innocents—this bust demonstrates that the fight against terrorism extends far beyond the battlefield, into the bank accounts of deceptive nonprofits and potentially across continents.
Western nations must remain vigilant. Charitable giving is a virtue, but without rigorous scrutiny, it risks becoming an unwitting lifeline for terrorists. Italy’s decisive action sets a strong example: no tolerance for those who hide behind “humanitarian” facades to fuel hatred and violence. This is not just an Italian scandal—it’s a wake-up call for the free world.
