"My job is to bring Israel down:" Hamas Finance Chief Faces Verdict in Netherlands

A Dutch court is expected to rule Wednesday in the case of alleged Hamas financier Amin Abu Rashid, who is accused of transferring some €8 million to Hamas-linked networks between 2010 and 2023.

Abu Rashid, 58, allegedly worked with the Rotterdam-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands to funnel money to the terrorist organization. Dutch prosecutors have sought a three-year prison sentence, saying he played a “leading and decisive role” in collecting funds and directing them to their final destination while knowingly evading sanctions.

According to the Israeli NGO Ad Kan, undercover footage submitted as part of the case shows Abu Rashid describing his mission in blunt terms.

“My job is Israel down,” he allegedly told an undercover investigator. “That’s my job.”

Ad Kan said the footage came from a multi-year operation in which an agent infiltrated activist networks, including the International Solidarity Movement. The group said its materials helped support parts of the prosecution’s case.

Abu Rashid has long been accused by Israel of serving as a senior Hamas figure in Europe. The United States sanctioned him and his daughter in June over alleged Hamas financing. Both were arrested in the Netherlands in 2023.

Dutch prosecutors say Abu Rashid misled financial institutions by concealing his involvement with Israa and continued the fundraising activity of the Al Aqsa Foundation, which was sanctioned by the US in 2003.

The Israa foundation was also sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in June over alleged Hamas ties.

Pro-Palestinian activists have called for a protest outside the Rotterdam court, arguing that the case is based on Israeli-linked evidence and is meant to criminalize solidarity with Palestinians.

Abu Rashid has also been connected to the Gaza flotilla movement and took part in the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla.