How Hamas Monetized the Gaza War
| by Amir Tadros
The merged challenge of terrorist financing and reputational laundering is difficult terrain for governments and the private sector to navigate. Amir Tadros’s (CTEC Graduate Researcher) paper confronts that gap head-on, arguing that Hamas’s wartime narrative production functions not as atmospheric context but as core raise-phase infrastructure within the terrorist financing lifecycle. It is an original and overdue contribution, and Tadros traces how a deliberately engineered information environment activates donor networks, legitimizes sham charities, and normalizes aid diversion—all before a single dollar enters the formal financial system where existing tools can reach it.
Hamas has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. Department of State since 1997. Yet, efforts to truly counter the group’s financing only began in a robust way after its deadly October 7, 2023 attack. Much work remains in countering Hamas’s manipulation, and Tadros’s paper provides a partial roadmap to do so.
Jason Blazakis - CTEC Executive Director
