Overview
- Appearing before the Genoa examining judge, Mohammad Hannoun declined to answer questions but delivered a brief statement asserting decades of charitable fundraising and denying any direct or indirect funding of Hamas.
- Prosecutors allege more than €7 million moved from Italian associations to Hamas since 2001, with a surge after 7 October 2023 and a large share for the military wing, citing interceptions, a “Contabilità Milano” file and substantial cash seizures approaching €2 million.
- Nine people are in custody and roughly thirty are under investigation, with searches uncovering hidden computers and cash bundles tagged by Italian city and alleged transfer routes through Turkey, Egypt and Jordan using entities such as La Cupola d’Oro and La Palma.
- Defense teams challenge the admissibility of material supplied by Israeli authorities, including a 2013 Israeli police interrogation of Hannoun’s nephew that describes money distributions to Hamas affiliates.
- Political and public fallout continues with demands for MP Stefania Ascari to leave the Antimafia commission, protests outside Genoa’s Marassi prison, plans to move Hannoun to an AS2 terrorism unit, and a government briefing to Parliament scheduled for 14 January.