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UK Charity discussed possibility Gaza funds had fallen into the hands of Hamas
Islamic charity Penny Appeal warned about how Gaza-based outfits 'could very likely be a front for extreme and terror-related activity in Gaza that we should have no part in'
One of the UK’s largest Islamic charities discussed the possibility that significant amounts of money it donated to Gaza humanitarian efforts could have ended up in the hands of Hamas, minutes show.
As reported by Mail on Sunday, Penny Appeal, which is currently being investigated by the charity commission, donated £350,000 towards relief efforts in Gaza following the outbreak of full scale war sparked by the 7 October mass terror attack by Hamas.
However, charity minutes from April 2024, leaked to the Sunday national paper, showed that there was a discussion among executives about how such funding may have ended up with “Hamas and other terror-related entities operating in Gaza”. The meeting of the West Yorkshire based charity discussed how requests for information as to how funds were being used within Gaza had been “ignored”, and talked about how organisations operating within Gaza itself, ostensibly for the purpose of aid distribution, “could very likely be a front for extreme and terror-related activity in Gaza that we should have no part in”.
The MoS also reported on receipts showing that some of the funds in question, spent in northern Gaza, were used on “media services”.
There have been widespread longstanding concerns that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2006, has siphoned off significant amount of international aid for its own use. UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians, has itself been accused of being compromised due to widespread infiltration by Hamas members.
In late December, Israel faced censure after demanding that a range of international charities operating in the Palestinian territories would need to provide full details of their staff, funding sources and operational structures in order to have expiring licenses reissued.
Penny Appeal said: “The donation was made following due diligence, production of a project budget, and Penny Appeal received a project completion report with receipts in June 2024, detailing the expenditure on the ground.
“We are confident the funds were used as intended, and are enormously proud of the work we deliver to support vulnerable communities around the world.”
In January, the charity commission confirmed that it had “an ongoing regulatory compliance case into the Penny Appeal to assess concerns raised with us and are actively engaging with the charity’s trustees.”
The opening of a compliance case is not in itself evidence of wrongdoing.
It is understood that since late 2024 the charity’s board has undergone a total overhaul, meaning that in mid-2026 there are now no longer any sitting members who were present two years ago.
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