the State Department issued a $10 million reward for several Hamas-linked individuals across the Middle East.
One of these officials, a Hamas financier named Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair (also known as Hamza), who is based in Sudan, was among the first individuals sanctioned by the United States in the days following the Hamas attack.
In addition to the funds Hamas receives from Iran and through small dollar donations, Hamas’s global portfolio of investments generates vast sums of illicit funds, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, that span across jurisdictions,” the official noted.
According to close monitors of both Hamas and Al-Qaida, links between the two go back decades to the organizations’ respective nascent years in the early 1990s.
“Shortly after Hamas was founded, the group was invited to join an international coalition of jihadi groups that included Al-Qaida and Hezbollah. The coalition met regularly in Sudan, which was under the rule of Omar al-Bashir,” according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Vice President Jonathan Schanzer.
Tensions between the organizations have risen over the decades, however, including with Osama bin Laden’s criticism of Hamas’ 2006 participation in democratic elections and formation of a unity government with Fatah.
“Bin Laden warned Hamas about the polytheistic nature of democracy, underscoring the ‘prohibition on joining polytheistic assemblies,’” wrote Cole Bunzel, a foreign affairs fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
Al-Qaida has also offered cautious criticism of Hamas’ failure to fully implement Sharia law in Gaza, reflecting the internal conflict within Hamas over the past some 15 years: to focus on its role as a governing body or prioritize its stated goal of destroying Israel.
Beyond this, Al-Qaida and Hamas differ in their respective global orientations. While Hamas is by definition dedicated to Israel’s destruction, Al-Qaida supports this as one element of its larger objectives.
Law, Power, and Justice 
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