Hamas and Iran

There's a post on Reddit that suggests saying Hamas was funded by Iran is a PR fib of Israel. It links an article.

So I asked Gemini the evidence that Hamas got money from Iran:

To say Iran didn't give Hamas money is the more sinister unfounded comment:

Hamas officials have openly acknowledged receiving significant financial and military support from Tehran: 

Ismail Haniyeh: In 2022, the former head of Hamas’s political bureau stated the group received $70 million annually from Iran to support its "defense plan" and rocket development.

Ali Baraka: A senior official confirmed in 2023 that Iran is the group's primary source of money and weapons.

Yahya Sinwar: In 2017, Sinwar identified Iran as the largest financial and military backer of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. 

2. Seized Documents and Intelligence 

Military operations in Gaza throughout 2024 and 2025 led to the discovery of internal records detailing the flow of funds: 

Payment Ledgers: Documents found in Hamas tunnels reportedly detail $154 million in transfers from Iran over a six-year period (2014–2020).

Strategic Budgets: A letter dated December 2022 from Hamas military chief Marwan Issa to Yahya Sinwar revealed an agreement for a special Iranian budget of $7 million per month to prepare for confrontation with Israel.

Recent Totals: By 2025, Israeli intelligence estimates indicated Iran's funding had surged to approximately $350 million per year, accounting for a vast majority of the group's total budget. 

3. Financial Tracking and Sanctions

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has identified and sanctioned multiple networks used to move Iranian money to Hamas: 

The "Oil-for-Terror" Scheme: In 2018, the U.S. uncovered a network where Iranian oil was shipped to Syria, with profits laundered through Russian companies and then distributed to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Middlemen and Exchange Houses: Sanctions have targeted Lebanese and Turkish money exchange companies, such as Nabil Chouman & Co, which served as conduits for transferring tens of millions of dollars from the IRGC-Quds Force to Gaza.

Crypto and Shell Companies: International investigations in 2024 and 2025 targeted Hamas-affiliated financial facilitators using cryptocurrency and sham charities in countries like Algeria and Sudan to bypass sanctions. 

4. Military and Technical Support

Evidence of funding is also visible in Hamas's physical arsenal: 

Local Manufacturing: Iran provided the technology and technical training for Hamas to locally manufacture rockets, drones, and precision-guided munitions.

Training Programs: Intelligence officials confirmed that Hamas militants received tactical training in IRGC-run camps in Iran and Lebanon, including training for the October 7 attacks. 

Now I know personally that AI gets things wrong, and can have a political slant, but this answer was pretty convincing to me.

Additionally I have an Iranian friend, and you have to separate the regime and the people, I don't think Iranian people personally wish to be baited into scapegoating Israel for their misery. My friend is a little anti-Israel, because Israel isn't perfect either. Indeed, the continuation of the erasure of Palestinians is an ongoing genocide, and the easy dismissal that it's not a genocide by pro-Israel people is weird to me. You don't have to pick a falsity to embrace. You don't have to participate in spin. Both sides did some bad stuff. You can be on the side of human lives, and against needless slaughter. 

"Anti-semitism" and "Zionism" has been ripped away from the common meaning and I have seen post decrying the Wikipedia definitions by Jewish people who don't want to admit it's a genocide. 

A stage of unintegrated recovery is to go from victim to victimizer, that's just basic psychology. Watch Altered Carbon, first season. 

The Jewish people haven't taken back the 5 million killed by killing Palestinians, but of the thousand they lost in the bombing, they have killed a thousand fold more in retribution. Not an eye for an eye any more, they have gone beyond, and continue to go beyond. They need their own people to stop the murderers who are still going. I don't think they can erase any blowback by keeping going. 

The wind shears from the spin are so fierce, Massad saying they with the protesters in Iran proves that they "are behind" the protests (Reddit).

I'm banned from r/Iran for pointing out that the attack on Iran wasn't unprovoked, there were missiles shot at Iran. Nobody sees any provocation, only opportunity for revenge, in a sick never ending loop.