Spanish police have arrested a 38-year-old Chinese citizen, the owner of a barbershop near Barcelona, on suspicion of financing Hamas through cryptocurrency transfers totaling about 600,000 euros, roughly 2.2 million shekels.
Police said Friday that investigators identified at least 31 crypto transactions from virtual wallets controlled by the suspect to addresses believed to be linked to an entity used by the terrorist organization. Searches of the barbershop and the suspect’s home led to the seizure of cryptocurrency assets, cash, about 9,000 cigars, jewelry, computers and mobile phones.
According to police, the investigation began in June as part of a separate probe into fraud and money laundering. Authorities declined to comment on the suspect’s possible motives or on whether he knowingly maintained contact with Hamas or acted only as an intermediary. Several bank accounts were also frozen, and the total value of assets seized and frozen exceeds 370,000 euros, police said.
In recent years, Spanish authorities have warned that armed organizations have increasingly used cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders, complicating efforts to detect and disrupt terrorist financing. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, which includes 27 countries, as well as by other Western nations including the United States, Canada, Britain, Japan and Australia.
Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, Spain has taken a hostile line toward Israel and has been among its sharpest critics. Last month, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Madrid and, at a joint news conference, accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. ‘Those responsible for this genocide must be held accountable, sooner or later, so that the victims can find justice, compensation and a measure of peace, and so that a tragedy of this scale cannot happen again, because only then can we build a just and lasting peace based on coexistence,’ Sanchez said alongside Abbas.
Sanchez received Abbas at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the official residence of Spain’s prime minister, and posted a photo on X showing the two walking together and holding hands. ‘Spain will always walk hand in hand with Palestine. A friendly country. A sister country,’ he wrote.
This week, several gravestones were desecrated at the Jewish cemetery in the Les Corts district of Barcelona. Members of the city’s Jewish community reported that the graves were smashed and vandalized by unknown perpetrators. Community leaders accused Spanish authorities of failing to adequately address incitement against Jews, particularly since October 7.
In a statement, the Jewish community said, ‘We have seen how, at demonstrations, online and in the streets, hateful speech against Jews has become routine. Then signs appeared across the city. After that, posters were hung on public buildings with slogans. Later, a map was published marking Jewish targets, including a school. And now, the desecration of graves. This is not random. This is an escalation. From slogans to marking, from marking to threats, and from threats to action.’