Major banks in South Africa provide FUNDING for Hamas, claims Israeli news outlet

01/31/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

Major banks in South Africa are reportedly providing funds for Hamas, a move undeniably linked to Pretoria’s decision to take legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Jerusalem Post (JPost) initially disclosed this revelation in a Jan. 24 investigative report, naming three banks involved in the scheme. It also named a former Muslim community leader as a key figure in the financing operation.

According to JPost‘s Ohad Merlin, the Al-Quds Foundation was an entity utilized by “a network of several South African organizations and strawman companies deeply involved with funding Hamas activities.” The foundation reportedly had accounts registered in three South African banks: Standard Bank, Nedbank and Absa.

Named after the Arabic word for the city of Jerusalem, the foundation had been decried by both the U.S. and Israel. Back in 2012, it was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for “being controlled by and acting on behalf of Hamas.” The Israeli government had outlawed the foundation three years prior in 2009 for similar reasons.

Despite the sanctions by Washington and Tel Aviv, “the foundation continues its operations across the globe – featuring roughly thirteen branches in different countries, sometimes holding different names.” The JPost report cited one group named Al-Quds Foundation SA (AQFSA), whose website describes it as a branch of the original entity with headquarters in Lebanon.

Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels is listed on the website as the AQFSA’s director, a position he has served in since 2019. Before this appointment, Gabriels served as the former president of two organizations – the United Ulama Council of South Africa and the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa (MJC).

According to the Israeli Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, MJC forms part of the Union of Good (UOG), an umbrella organization comprised of over 50 alleged charity organizations worldwide. The U.S. government ultimately designated UOG as a terror group in 2008 over its fundraising efforts for and funding of Hamas – formally the Islamic Resistance Movement.

AQFSA using another dummy account to bypass issues

According to JPost, AQFSA appears to have issues with transferring funds to Hamas, per an insider source. They added that the glitch often happens with the Absa account, so the foundation used another account belonging to the Baitul Maqdis Foundation (BMF) – also named after an Arabic term for Jerusalem. The BMF has accounts with both Standard Bank and Nedbank.

Despite the BMF claiming to be a registered nonprofit, there is no information about it online save for an almost blank Facebook page. Information about its founders, employees or board members is also lacking. “In other words, the dubious BMF provides a cover for the [AQFSA] in their efforts to transfer funds to Hamas through their accounts in Standard Bank and Nedbank instead of through their Absa account,” JPost commented.

“It is worth mentioning that all three banks are ranked within the top four banks in South Africa in terms of assets, with Standard Bank topping the list. [Standard Bank has] roughly $170,000 million worth in offices, collaborations and shares in banks in the U.K., Argentina, Turkey, and all across the continent of Africa.”

While Standard Bank and Absa did not respond to JPost‘s queries, Nedbank did. However, it did not confirm the existence of the AQFSA and BMF accounts or the identity of their owners. Nedbank also maintained that it complies with international sanctions.

“Hamas’ apparent funding in South Africa could help explain why the country has led the charge against Israel … at the ICJ, where [Pretoria] is pursuing a case of ‘genocide’ against [Tel Aviv],” noted Breitbart. (Related: Israel and South Africa face off at the International Court of Justice over Gaza genocide case.)

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Watch this clip from “TruNews” about South Africa calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This video is from the TruNews channel on Brighteon.com.