Italy-based Palestinian leader, sanctioned by the US, persists with his activity

On June 4, 2025, the leader of the Association of Palestinians in Italy, Mohammad Hannoun, released a statement to the Italian news agency ANSA criticizing a demonstration organized in Rome on June 7 by part of the Italian left-wing which includes the Democratic Party, the 5-Star Movement, Italian Left and Green Europe.

The demonstration calls for the recognition of a “state of Palestine” and a ceasefire. At the same time, it does not request the release of the hostages nor does it include an explicit condemnation of Hamas and the disarmament of the terrorist group. However, that is not enough for Hannoun. Here is his statement, as published by ANSA, that was also shared on API’s Instagram account:

“We believe that a demonstration that does not reflect the narrative and historical requests of the Palestinian people, risks becoming an empty gesture, if not even harmful”: this is what the Association of Palestinians in Italy (API) wrote in a note released by the president Mohammad Hannoun “regarding the demonstration recently called by some Italian political groups”. “While recognizing the importance of public mobilization in support of the Palestinian cause, we cannot – the note reads – support or share the initiative in question”.

And this for various reasons, starting from the “selective and continuous condemnation of October 7, without context or understanding of the reality of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian resistance”, through the “spread and re-proposal of narratives not verified or denied by multiple independent sources, such as the alleged massacre of children or rapes attributed to Hamas”, to arrive at the “Reticence in the use of the word “genocide”” and the “Belated request for cessation of hostilities”.

“We believe that every public position must have at its center the integral liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea, respecting – concludes the API – the voice and will of the Palestinians themselves”. (ANSA).

This statement presents several problematic points; for instance, the last sentence is a clear call for the annihilation of the State of Israel. Secondly, the killing of children and the rapes perpetrated by Hamas are cited as “alleged”. As if the murder of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and the horrific accounts of the women victim of rapes never happened?

However, it is important to keep in mind where the statement comes from. Mohammad Hannoun is in fact internationally well-known. Just three days after the October 7th massacre, during a pro-Pal demonstration in Milan, he told the Italian State TV Rai 3 that the attack was “self-defense”. Hannoun also praised on his social media Hamas terrorists such as Yahya Ayyash and Saleh al-Arouri; he called for the assault of Israeli embassies during a street demonstration in Milan and praised the attacks perpetrated by Muslim thugs against the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in Amsterdam. Hannoun was also photographed next to Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal.

In August 2024, after the death of Ismail Haniyeh, Hannoun told Ala News that Hamas and the other Palestinian groups had to respond to his assassination, “to teach Israel a lesson” and to “avenge their leaders”, because Haniyeh “was not Hamas’ leader, but a Palestinian leader”.

On May 31, Hannoun posted a photo of US Special Envoy, Steven Witkoff and the following comment:“Steve Witkoff, US Truce Mediator as Representative of National Zionist Government Declares Failure of Talks with Hamas”.

And there is more, because on October 8^th 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Hannoun, indicating him as “an Italy-based Hamas member” and accusing him of collecting money for the terrorist organization through one of his associations, the ABSPP, which maintains offices in Rome, Milan , and Genoa.

In that same month, the European Leadership Network (Elnet) published a report on Hamas in Europe, dedicating the Italian part to Hannoun and associates, and exposing the links between Hannoun and individuals active in other European countries and also indicated as connected to Hamas.

As reported by the Italian newspaper Il Secolo XIX, in December of 2021, after several reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Unicredit bank suspended operations on the accounts of the ABSPP, due to a series of anomalies. Shortly after, other banks did the same. In July 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Defense asked the Italian police to seize Hannoun’s money.

Currently, a new association named Cupola d’Oro (Golden Dome), born in early 2024, is using the same bank IBAN previously utilized by the already sanctioned ABSPP, under a rebranded name. Incredibly, the account, provided by Poste Italiane (Italian Mail Service) is currently still functioning regardless of the US DOT sanctions.

La Cupola d’Oro continues to solicit funds through various means on social media, and Hannoun officially confirmed raising approximately 2 million euros in recent months, as reported by the Italian press agency ANSA on January 28, 2025.

On the evening of October 8, 2024, immediately after the sanctions implemented by Washington, prosecutor Nicola Piacente stated that the Genoa Public Prosecutor’s Office could open a new investigation into Mohammad Hannoun if useful documentation for further investigative insights were to arrive from the United States, as reported by the Giornale d’Italia news site.