Former spy chief accuses Israeli Prime Minister of failing to seize an opportunity to halt Hamas funding

A former senior Israeli intelligence officer, Udi Levy, claims that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, missed an opportunity to cut off funding for Hamas, years before the group carried out a deadly attack in October last year. Levy alleges that he advised Netanyahu to target Hamas's finances in order to weaken their military capabilities, but his advice was not taken. The Israeli prime minister's office has not responded to these allegations. Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages during the attack in southern Israel, with 130 hostages still unaccounted for. Israel's military response to the attack has resulted in the deaths of 29,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Levy, who was the head of economic warfare in the Mossad until 2016, claims that he never received a response from Netanyahu regarding his proposal. He believes there is a connection between Netanyahu's failure to address Hamas's finances and the October attack. He states that targeting Hamas's finances could have prevented a significant amount of money from going into Gaza and hampered the group's military build-up. Levy explains that Hamas would have needed billions of dollars to carry out their military operations and build extensive tunnel networks. He also reveals that he raised concerns about an alleged multi-million-dollar investment portfolio controlled by Hamas in 2014, but no action was taken. The article also highlights Hamas's extensive financial support from sources such as Qatar, Iran, and various UN agencies, the EU, and charities. These funds, intended for humanitarian purposes, may have been used to subsidize Hamas's military activities. The article suggests that Netanyahu's opposition to a Palestinian state and his desire to maintain a rival faction in Hamas could have influenced his decision not to target the group's finances.