Mohammad Hannoun

Mohamed Hannoun is the president of the Palestinian Association in Italy. He was 63 years old in 2025, a Genoa resident, and has worked as an architect.[1][2] In addition to being Palestinian, he has Jordanian citizenship, but has been living in Italy for 40 years.[3][4] The United States and Italian governments have both accused Hannoun of being a financier of Hamas.[3]

Gaza Flotillas

2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Mohamed Hannoun and his charity, the Palestinian Association in Italy, worked with the Turkish nonprofit IHH to fund the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla[1] (also known as the Freedom Flotilla 2).[5]

Global Sumud Flotilla

Hannoun supported the 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla, which had boats set sail for Gaza from Genoa.[3][1] Hannoun was also a participant in the November 2025 pro-Palestine protests alongside Global Sumud Flotilla participant Greta Thunberg.[1][6]

2024 Sanremo Music Festival

At the 2024 Sanremo Music Festival, an on-stage plea by one of the performers, Italian-Tunisian rapper Ghali, sparked controversy after the rapper pled on stage to “stop the genocide” in (Gaza). Mohammed Hannoun thanked Ghali for “his clear words against the extermination"; Ghali's remarks were condemned by the Israeli ambassador to Italy.[7][8]

United States and Italian sanctions

In 2000, Hannoun was investigated by the Italian government, but the investigation was closed without action.[9][10][11] In 2023, the United States Treasury Department placed Hannoun and his nonprofit, the Palestinian Association in Italy, on a travel black list, accusing the nonprofit and by extension Hannoun of being financiers of terrorism.[3] In October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against several Italian charities and individuals, including Hannoun.[12]

In November 2024, the government of Milan barred Hannoun from entering the city for several months due to comments he made praising the November 2024 Amsterdam riots.[2][13][4] A year later, Hannoun received a second travel ban from Milan for making statements interpreted as supportive of violence against Palestinians accused of collaboration.[2][4][13]

2025 December arrest

Hannoun was arrested on December 27, 2025, with eight others on charges of financing Hamas.[3][14][15] According to authorities, the defendants had sent millions of euros directly to Hamas members or to organizations banned by Israel due to their links to Hamas.[9][16] The Italian government put out a statement the next day announcing the arrests by the anti-mafia and anti-terrorism units.[17][2] The authorities stated that they decided to arrest Hannoun because he had removed evidence from his phone and was in the process of relocating to Turkey.[9][4][18] They also referred to Hannoun as the leader of Hamas in Italy.[9][16][19]

Hannoun's lawyers have said that "the charges against our client were fabricated by Israel".[20][2] Hannoun has stated that allegations of his being a leader of Hamas are hoaxes, and has said that he is as sympathetic to Hamas as any faction fighting on behalf of his rights as a Palestinian.[3][21] The charges were criticized in CounterPunch as an attempt to criminalize sending aid to Gaza and suppress pro-Palestine solidarity in Italy.[22]

In January 2026, three of Hannoun's co-defendants were released. In April 2026, the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld the decision to release them and ordered the Court of Review to decide whether to release the remaining defendants.[23][24][11] The Court also decided that evidence submitted by Israel was inadmissible.[23][25]

Personal life

Mohammad Hannoun has a wife and two children.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Quella traccia sottile che lega Soros, Greta, Flotilla e Hannoun". www.iltempo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Milan, James Imam (2025-12-28). "Police seize €7 million 'intended for Hamas'". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Who is Hannoun, proPal leader arrested is on US blacklist". Il Sole 24 ORE. 2025-12-27. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Italienare samlade Gazabistånd för miljoner – pengarna hamnade hos Hamas". Svenska Yle (in Swedish). 2025-12-28. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  5. ↑ "İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation". İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  6. ↑ "Palestinsk ledare i Italien demonstrerade med Thunberg – gripen för terrorstöd". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  7. ↑ "'Stop genocide' plea by performer at Sanremo Music Festival sparks diplomatic row". Arab News. 2024-02-12. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  8. ↑ "Ghali's "stop the genocide" becomes a case. The Israeli ambassador: «Shameful messages of hate»". L'Unione Sarda English. 2024-02-12. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Italian police arrest nine and seize €8 million in Hamas financing probe". euronews. Retrieved 2026-04-16.
  10. ↑ TG24, Sky (2025-12-27). "Chi è Mohammad Hannoun, presidente associazione palestinesi d'Italia". tg24.sky.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 "Caso Hannoun, crolla il castello dell'accusa: nel mirino la solidarietà ai palestinesi". L'INDIPENDENTE (in Italian). 2026-04-09. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  12. ↑ "Italian authorities arrest nine for allegedly funneling millions to Hamas via charities". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2025-12-27. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  13. 1 2 Roma, Redazione (2025-10-25). "Foglio di via da Milano per il presidente Palestinesi Italia Mohammad Hannoun" [Expulsion Order from Milan for the President of Palestinians in Italy, Mohammad Hannoun.]. Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  14. ↑ "Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charities". CNN. 2025-12-28. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  15. ↑ Svensson, Simone. "Palestinsk ledare gripen – demonstrerade med Thunberg". bulletin.nu (in Swedish). Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  16. 1 2 "Italian authorities arrest 9 for allegedly funding Hamas through charities". NBC News. 2025-12-27. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  17. ↑ "Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charities". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2025-12-27. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  18. ↑ "Chi è Hannoun, l'imam di Genova che stava per trasferirsi in Turchia". La Stampa (in Italian). 2025-12-27. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  19. ↑ "Nine people arrested in Italy for allegedly funding Hamas through charities". ITV. 2025-12-27.
  20. ↑ "Palestinian Italy chief held in 'Hamas funding' case - General News - Ansa.it". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  21. ↑ "Mohammad Hannoun (Associazione palestinesi d'Italia): "Non faccio parte di Hamas, l'accusa è una bugia"". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). 2025-08-16. Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  22. ↑ Leonardi, Michael (2025-12-31). "Operation Domino: Italy's War on Palestinian Charity and the Criminalization of Survival". CounterPunch.org. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  23. 1 2 Cimini, Frank (2026-04-10). "Arresto di Mohammed Hannoun, per la Cassazione le soffiate degli 007 israeliani non si possono usare". L'Unità (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  24. ↑ "L'assist della Cassazione ad Hannoun". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). 2026-04-09. Archived from the original on 2026-04-10. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  25. ↑ "Hamas funds investigation, prosecutor: 'Israeli documents must be usable'". Il Sole 24 ORE. 2026-03-16. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  26. ↑ McKenna, Josephine (2025-12-29). "How Rome church fundraiser 'made a bundle of cash for Hamas terrorists'". The Telegraph.
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