Father of missing Hamas hostage Itay Chen presses for international efforts
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The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Hamas-bound crypto funds worth $2 million seized by US
About $2 million in cryptocurrency assets intended for Hamas has been seized by the US government, recently unsealed court forfeiture documents from the US Department of Justice have shown. According to court filings, the digital currency was held in Tether and Binance accounts connected through BuyCash, a 'Gaza-based money transfer business' allegedly involved in helping to finance Hamas. 'Terrorist organisations like Hamas and their affiliates rely on shadowy financial networks to fund their deadly operations,' US Attorney General Pam Bondi said. 'By seizing millions in cryptocurrency, the Justice Department is aggressively dismantling the financial infrastructure of terrorism and refusing to allow our digital currency platforms to become safe havens for terrorist financing.' The court filings said a man named Ahmed Alaqad, a partial owner of the BuyCash operation, is also suspected of supporting groups including ISIS and Al Qaeda. Unsealed court documents accuse him of 'materially supporting Hamas' after the group's attack on Israel in October 2023. According to the Department of Justice, the specific method of transferring funds through digital assets is likely to have resulted in Hamas receiving as much as $4 million previously. 'These types of money transfers are a classic money laundering technique, as they intend to disguise the nature, location, ownership and control of the funds being transferred,' the court filings said. Despite growing enthusiasm for crypto, there is still plenty of scepticism. Unlike fiat currencies, crypto mostly lacks an overall regulatory apparatus and is largely decentralised, making it appealing to groups with nefarious intentions. In May, a man in the US was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of converting $185,000 to cryptocurrency and transferring it to ISIS. In March, an investigation originating from the FBI's field office in New Mexico led to the seizure of $201,400 in cryptocurrency assets that was intended to finance Hamas.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
In the absence of formal accountability for Gaza atrocities, it's critical to shout the truth loudly
July 17 marked International Criminal Justice Day – commemorating the 1998 adoption of the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC). For those of us working in the field of accountability – pursuing war criminals and justice for survivors – it should be a day of reflection and progress. Yet in 2025, it feels like an act of resistance just to believe that justice is possible. The odds are stacked against us. Criminals often walk free, shielded by powerful states. We see images of children in Gaza dying from malnutrition – victims of Israel's starvation policy as found by ICC prosecutors – while our mechanisms to stop it are blocked at every turn. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor has launched an investigation into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the deliberate targeting of civilians and the use of starvation as a method of warfare. But progress is painfully slow. The Court has no jurisdiction over the US or Israel, and both actively obstruct it. During the 1998 Rome negotiations, the US refused to join, citing fears of 'politically motivated' prosecutions. Israel claims its military operates within the laws of war. Earlier this month, Mr Netanyahu travelled to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump, defying international pressure. In retaliation for the ICC investigation, the US imposed sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan – restricting his travel and freezing assets. The US has also targeted Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur, on the occupied Palestinian territories, who continues to speak out despite pressure. Journalists, investigators and human rights workers must keep the pressure high. It worked in Bosnia. It worked in Kosovo. It can work again While Mr Khan has remained largely silent, Ms Albanese has not. On the same day she was sanctioned, she condemned Italy, France, and Greece — ICC member states — for allowing Mr Netanyahu's aircraft to cross their airspace instead of arresting him. Meanwhile, the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has issued orders for Israel to allow humanitarian aid and halt military actions that risk genocide. Yet these rulings rely on enforcement by the Security Council—where the US has repeatedly used its veto to protect Israel from accountability. Still, the evidence grows. Just last week, renowned genocide scholar Omer Bartov, an Israeli Jew and former Israeli soldier, published an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that Israel is committing genocide. It was a watershed moment, not just for the clarity of his language but for where it was published. But even as the case against Israel strengthens, we must confront the painful truth: the very systems designed to deliver justice are being blocked or undermined. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued some of the strongest statements I've seen from a UN leader, and his adviser Melissa Fleming continues to condemn Israel's attacks on civilians. Still, several Security Council votes calling for a ceasefire have been vetoed by the US. On July 20, the General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution, drafted by Spain, condemning the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Yet even as that resolution passed, Israeli forces bombed a Catholic church in Gaza and continued killing hundreds daily, many of them women, children and people waiting at feeding stations. In short, it would appear that Mr Netanyahu is mocking international justice. But it is not hopeless – if we accept that justice is a long game. Since the Second World War, alternative pathways for accountability have evolved. This is where civil society must lead. My team at The Reckoning Project focuses on creative approaches to accountability. We combine international courts, third-state prosecutions, UN mechanisms, and civil society pressure. Justice is rarely linear, but it is possible. Everything hinges on political will. Countries such as Spain and Ireland are stepping up. But when the US, UK and Germany actively block legal mechanisms, they become complicit. Britain continues arms transfers to Israel, and recent revelations show it is also sharing battlefield intelligence. This is where advocacy matters. Journalists, investigators and human rights workers must keep the pressure high. It worked in Bosnia. It worked in Kosovo. It can work again. The ICC case can and must be strengthened – with robust documentation, clear evidence chains, and legal submissions under Article 15. We must link Netanyahu directly to command decisions and demonstrate intent. Countries with universal jurisdiction, such as Germany, Belgium, South Africa, and Argentina, can open domestic cases. These can be reinforced by the ICJ's initial findings and ongoing proceedings in the genocide case. Targeted sanctions, such as Magnitsky-style bans – that is, laws providing for governmental sanctions against foreigners who have committed human rights abuses or been involved in corruption – should be imposed by countries such as Norway, Ireland and Spain. But this depends on political will. Which brings me to the most powerful tool we have: the court of public opinion. The truth must be told, clearly and relentlessly. In the case of Gaza, the horror doesn't need exaggeration as the facts speak for themselves. Free press can drive public protest and shift political inertia. The alternative is complicity in what has been described by legal experts as genocide, and as shown in the mounting evidence before the ICJ. I have witnessed three genocides in my lifetime. I cannot remain silent as another unfolds. To look away would be to abandon our shared humanity.
Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel kills Palestinian journalist and family in Gaza strike
An Israeli air strike killed Palestinian journalist Walaa al-Jabari along with her entire family in Gaza City on Wednesday, raising the number of media workers killed during Israel's war on Gaza to at least 231. Jabari, who was pregnant at the time, was killed when her home in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in southwest Gaza City was bombed. The strike also killed her husband, Amjad al-Shaer, and four of their children. Local reports said the force of the blast was so intense it ejected her unborn child from her womb. Images circulating on social media show a fetus wrapped in a shroud, though Middle East Eye could not independently verify their authenticity. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Jabari worked as a newspaper editor for several local media outlets and is one of many Palestinian journalists killed in what rights groups and press advocates have called targeted Israeli attacks on the media. Her death brings the total number of journalists killed by Israeli forces since October 2023 to at least 231, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. Earlier this week, Israeli forces shot and killed photojournalist Tamer al-Zaanin during a raid near a Red Cross facility in Rafah. During the same operation, an undercover Israeli unit detained Dr Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals in the Gaza Strip. 'Systemic crimes against journalists' The Government Media Office called on international organisations and the broader international community to condemn what it described as 'systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists and media professionals'. AFP warns Gaza journalists risk starving to death amid ongoing Israeli siege Read More » "We also call on them to exert serious and effective pressure to stop the crime of genocide, protect journalists and media professionals in the Gaza Strip, and stop the murder and assassination of them," the office said. "We ask God Almighty to grant all our martyred colleagues and journalists mercy, acceptance, and Paradise, and to grant their families and the Palestinian press family patience and solace. We also wish a speedy recovery to all the wounded journalists." Israel's war on Gaza has been described as the "worst ever conflict" for journalists, according to a report published in April by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. The report, titled News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World, said the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 had "killed more journalists than the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined".
