"Images Reveal Hamas Terror Cell in Europe Linked to the UK That Allegedly Funded £6 Million for the October 7 Massacre"

A SUSPECTED Hamas terror cell operating across Europe is pictured for the first time since being accused of funding the October 7 massacre.

The nine men were seized by police in Italy shortly before New Year for allegedly raising £6million for Hamas over a two-year period.

Pictures of the suspected terrorists have been released for the first time The group is thought to have raised several millions for Hamas

They are accused of using humanitarian aid as a front to raise cash secretly funnelled to the military wing of Hamas and the families of suicide bombers.

The group will return to court in Genoa tomorrow (mon) in a bid to have the case against them thrown out.

But extraordinary new pictures obtained by The Sun show them proudly standing alongside the monsters behind Israel’s 9/11.

Disturbing court documents also allege the group’s vast network extended beyond Italy to the UK – with two British-based men identified as high-ranking Hamas operatives.

Links to the Netherlands, Austria, France and Germany were also found.

The court papers accuse the cell of ensuring the “continuous concrete support” of Hamas by “contributing to the preservation, strengthening and realization of its criminal program”.

They add: “Initially, Hamas operated abroad through press offices and charities.

“Where the movement had been included in the list of terrorist organizations, as in Europe, it operated to provide financial, but also political and public support and to legitimize the organization’s work, through humanitarian associations or charities.

“The financial network is made up of charities, which operate in different countries, and branches of the funds of the Muslim Brotherhood association.”

In one of the images of the nine, Riyad Albustanji, 60, stands alongside masked Hamas fighters wearing military fatigues, a symbolic green Hamas scarf and holding an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade).

He is accused of “promoting the collection of money” during propaganda meetings, “carrying sums of money” destined for the terror group and using humanitarian aid as a front.

His co-accused, Raed Dawoud, 52, faces the same charges and is pictured in one image in a Hamas tunnel deep beneath the surface in Gaza.

The 1,300 tunnels stretch right across the entire Strip and were built over decades at a cost of $1billion to help Hamas carry out terrorist attacks against Israel.

Dubbed the Gaza Metro, the network runs for 450 miles to a depth of 230ft.

Nearly 6,000 access shafts allowed terrorists to move undetected around Gaza in a spider’s web of tunnels that was far more extensive than Israel realised when the war began.

There are also strategic hubs where command and control centres were based, major branch routes to move troops and smuggle weapons, and narrow tunnels with hidden access shafts to stage lightning strikes on Israeli troops.

Another suspect, Mohamed Hannoun, 63, is pictured alongside Albustanji in a video recording hailing Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ assassinated former political leader.

Hannoun, the alleged ringleader of the Italian cell and the president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, is also pictured in conversation with Haniyeh and at dinner with Hamas fundraiser Amer Alshawa.

The damning images appear to contradict Hannoun’s claim that he was “neither closely nor remotely” related to Hamas.

He previously said: “I have always declared with utmost transparency that I am a Palestinian citizen and publicly support the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people.”

Italian police say the money raised by the cell was collected as humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians but then sent to the militant group via a “complex fundraising system”.

Alongside the arrests, police seized more than £7million in assets.

Police say the suspects are “specifically accused of carrying out financing operations believed to have contributed to terrorist activities”.

The arrests were made as part of a joint initiative between Italy’s counter-terror police and financial police.

The investigation began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack in southern Israel.

Police say they analysed “a series of reports of suspicious financial transactions” involving some of the suspects in the lead up to the attack.

Investigators uncovered a “complex” system of fundraising, which was headquartered in Genoa with branches in Milan, the statement adds.

The police said: “The suspects collected donations intended for the civilian population of Gaza.

“However, it emerged that over 71 per cent of these funds were diverted to Hamas’s coffers to finance its military wing and support the families of suicide bombers or those detained for terrorism.”

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi noted that “the presumption of innocence… must always be recognised at this stage”.

The suspects are accused of using humanitarian aid as a front to raise cash for operations