Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charities

ROME, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors said on Saturday they had arrested nine people on suspicion of financing Hamas through charities based in Italy, in an operation coordinated by anti-mafia and anti-terrorism units.

The suspects are accused of "belonging to and having financed" the Palestinian group, which the European Union designates as a terrorist organisation, prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Genoa said in a statement.

Those arrested allegedly diverted to Hamas-linked entities around 7 million euros ($8.24 million) raised over the last two years for ostensibly humanitarian purposes, prosecutors said. Police seized assets worth more than 8 million euros.

The investigation began after suspicious financial transactions were flagged and expanded through cooperation with Dutch authorities and other EU countries, coordinated through the EU judicial agency Eurojust.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked the authorities for "a particularly complex and important operation" which had uncovered financing for Hamas through "so-called charity organisations."

The Israeli prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meloni's support for Israel during its war with Hamas in Gaza has triggered large and repeated street protests in Italy.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 people, according to the enclave's health ministry. It was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

($1 = 0.8495 euros)

(Reporting by Gavin Jones, additional reportings by Emilio Parodi in Milan, Emily Rose in Jerusalem, editing by Alexandra Hudson)