French NGO's logo appears in footage from Hamas's Gaza tunnels

Humani Terre

A screenshot from N12 footage taken inside a Hamas tunnel in Gaza reveals what appears to be a scooter carrying the logo of a French NGO, designated years ago as a terror group related to Hamas by both Israel and the US.

The organization Humani’Terre is recognized by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as an alias of a group named the Committee of Charity and Solidarity with Palestine (CBSP), a French organization designated as a terror group acting and fundraising on behalf of Hamas – by Israel as early as 1997, and by the US in 2003.

According to their official filings, the organization gained approximately 30,000 euros worth of public funding in 2022. A scooter carrying their logo inside a Hamas-run tunnel may suggest that Hamas officials were exploiting this equipment, allegedly aimed at the needy of Gaza, to facilitate movement inside the tunnels built as command centers and weapon warehouses.

“It is quite disturbing that France, which called for an international coalition against Hamas following the October 7 massacre, continues to allow Humani’Terre to operate. All the more so when its links to the terror group have been public knowledge for decades,” says Vincent Chebat, senior researcher at the NGO Monitor watchdog, who was also the first to identify this logo and go public about it.

“The French government must also act against other terror-linked NGOs, notably Samidoun and Collectif Palestine Vaincra (CPV), which are vectors of radicalization in Europe,” he adds. Chebat is referring to two organizations sympathizing with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), terror-designated organizations in the EU, the US, and Israel, among others. The former, Samidoun, was designated by Israel as a terror group affiliated with the PFLP in 2021, while the latter, CPV, was ordered dissolved by French President Emmanuel Macron – a decision later rejected by the French courts.

IDF soldiers clear a tunnel in the Gaza Strip (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

IDF soldiers clear a tunnel in the Gaza Strip (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Regarding the organization known as CBSP, Dr. Dina Lisnyansky, a political expert on Middle East Affairs at the Shalem College, Forum Dvorah and Reichman University, comments: “CBSP is run under the umbrella of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated entities in Europe. It has faced scrutiny in Israel and the US for its financial activities and is recognized as being involved in funneling funds to Hamas for years. They operate through seemingly legitimate channels, including charitable events, where collected funds are nevertheless directed purportedly to Hamas.”

Tackling organizations engaging in extreme activities 

“There’s been a noticeable shift in how such organizations are addressed In France,” adds Lisnyansky when approached regarding the legal aspects taken by Paris. “The government is moving towards legislative action aimed at curbing their operations. President Macron has been vocal about tackling organizations that, while appearing moderate, engage in extreme activities. This stance is not only aimed at protecting the general populace but also Muslims in France who do not align with these organizations’ extremist ideologies.

“These organizations are being inspected under the premise of fear from the creation of a ‘state within a state’, prompting French authorities to consider parliamentary legislation to restrict their activities. The exact nature of the proposed legislation remains unclear, but it did signify a central part of Macron’s electoral promises to address the issue,” Lisnyansky concludes.

This revelation is but one of a long series of exposes from the past year regarding the activity of Hamas in Europe. These include the indication by German security authorities regarding Majed Al-Zeer as a Hamas official in Germany following years of being designated by Israel as a Hamas operator in Europe; the accusation pointed by the Belgian justice minister to an organization named EUPAC as a proxy group fundraising for Hamas in the kingdom; and the arrest of Amin Abou Rashed, another Israel-recognized Hamas affiliate, who was detained last June in the Netherlands on a similar background.