Father and daughter arrested in the Netherlands for sending millions to Hamas

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has been on the EU terrorism blacklist since 2017

Hamas supporters demonstrate in the northern Gaza Strip on October 21, 2022, against Israel. AFP

A father and daughter were arrested in the Netherlands for allegedly sending more than €5 million ($5.4 million) to the Palestinian group Hamas in breach of EU sanctions, prosecutors said on Monday.

The two, aged 55 and 25, both from the town of Leidschendam near The Hague, were arrested on June 22 on suspicion of "large-scale financing" of Hamas, said the public prosecution service.

During searches of a house in Leidschendam and a business in Rotterdam, investigators found cash and seized a bank balance of about €750,000, they said.

"The public prosecution service suspects them of having sent money, approximately €5.5 million, to groups related to the organisation Hamas," the prosecution service said.

"They are also suspected of participating in a criminal organisation whose purpose is to support Hamas financially."

The pair, who remain in custody, were allegedly involved in a foundation that replaced an earlier, sanctioned organisation that sent funds to Hamas, prosecutors said.

The inquiry was launched after reports of unusual transactions, and after newspaper articles about a fundraising event in Europe for Hamas, it said.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza strip, was placed on an EU terrorism blacklist after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks by Al Qaeda on New York and Washington.

A lower EU court removed Hamas from the list in 2014, but the bloc's top court reinstated it in 2017.