US residents funding West Bank IOF settlements, extremist militants

US residents have been given the opportunity to funnel funds into “Israel”, none of which is noble in the slightest, including illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, paramilitary groups, and several Israeli occupation forces currently engaged in the invasion of the Gaza Strip, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

While some of these campaigns may be deemed illegal under US tax law, which is rarely enforced on donors to causes that support the Israeli occupation, IsraelGives, a funding platform, has allowed US residents to donate millions of dollars since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza to help the Israeli occupation.

Funding the illegal occupation of Palestine is not just a privilege for wealthy or big US donors; it allows smaller donors within and outside the US to claim tax deductions on funds that contribute to upholding the Israeli aggression on Gaza and helping the illegal Israeli settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

Residents of the United States are sending money to the Israeli occupation at a time when it is committing one of its most atrocious crimes. After having killed over 20,200 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the stream of donations is as heavy as ever through the Israeli company’s GoFundMe-like crowdfunding campaigns that are held on several websites.

The Guardian reported that at least 450 crowdfunding campaigns are being hosted by the company, 204 of which were initiated after the start of the October 7 Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip and are asking for tactical and other equipment to help in the aggression on Gaza.

The beneficiaries of the donations range from illegal Israeli settlements, Israeli occupation forces, and specific IOF units, to paramilitary groups attached to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Millions donated ‘illegally’ 

At least $5.3 million have been pledged to military, paramilitary, or settler organizations since October 7, with a significant portion of the donors identifying as residents of the United States. Numerous of these campaigns receiving donations are raising funds specifically for illegal Israeli settlements, with all of those asking for funding the militias being attached to said settlements.

One of the settlements being donated to, “Ma’on”, is responsible for the death of a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank. 

On October 13, the Israeli human rights organization of B’Tselem shared footage showing a settler from “Ma’on” shooting a Palestinian man at point-blank range with an assault rifle or an AR-style rifle all before the eyes of an IOF soldier.

Still, the CEO of the company said in an email to The Guardian that IsraelGives was a neutral vessel to give money to anything Israeli and related to the Israeli occupation.

Donations to communities such as “Ma’on” are “illegal under international law and could be illegal under US law, the problem has always been one of enforcement,” said Diala Shamas, a senior staff attorney at the human rights organization Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

According to Shamas, attorneys-general could prosecute US residents over donations that fund illegal or illicit acts, and though the IRS could enforce its own rules, “Israeli causes have enjoyed complete impunity.”

Got change?

Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the US government and subsequently the pockets of US residents, the Israeli occupation forces are still demanding aid in the form of donations.

Various IsraelGives campaigns are asking for funds to acquire tactical equipment for both regular and reserve IOF units.

One campaign in particular, one that contributes to the Israeli Maglan special forces elite commando IOF unit, has raised $25,443 for the unit operating in the Gaza Strip and possibly massacring civilians there – and maybe even Israelis.

Read next: ‘Israel’ after donations to equip ‘elite’ anti-tunnels unit in Gaza

Another campaign raised close to $3,000 for snipers of the 906th infantry battalion, with demands that include three DJI Mavic 3 drones.

There is also a campaign demanding “specialist tactical gear,” which includes 22 commando vests for the Multidimensional Unit of the IOF.

Other fundraisers, however, sought money for standard equipment: reservists in the IOF’s 636th field intelligence unit, a unit directly involved in the ongoing aggression on Gaza, were demanding “access to essential tactical equipment,” such as flashlights for their helmets and boots.

Elite units in need of funds

The Times of Israel headlined a report published last week: “Help Yahalom Fight Hamas in Their Tunnels.”

“Israel turns to the Yahalom .. unit, an elite force of commandos. And Yahalom turns to YOU,” it continued.

Nearly 80 days into the ongoing war on Gaza, the Israeli occupation army is yet to achieve any of its declared military objectives, on top of which is the “eradication of Hamas” and “destroying its infrastructures,” mainly represented by its tunnel network, despite the significant recorded losses its forces are incurring on the battlefield against the Resistance.

For weeks, top US military and security officials have warned that going for Resistance tunnels is not an easy task or even achievable. This sentiment was shared even by prominent Israeli army figures, many of whom had long years of combat experience, especially when it comes to besieged Gaza. Their criticism was proven correct, as, so far, the occupation army has admitted it was unable to effectively damage the tunnels’ infrastructure.

Given the exhausting nature of the mission, the occupation entity is pouring much-needed massive resources, both financially and in terms of manpower, to try and present to its frustrated internal front and global state supporters that it is on track to reach the goal of ending the “tunnels threat”.

Fighting toward this objective is the Israeli Yahalom unit, part of the IOF’s Combat Engineering Corps; an elite force specialized and highly trained in engaging in underground warfare – combat inside tunnels.

Yahalom has taken a central role in the invasion of Gaza, leading specialized operations “to locate, secure with explosives, and neutralize Hamas tunnels,” according to the newspaper.

While it was established in 1995, the unit was reformed following the war on Gaza in 2014, after the Resistance carried out over 9 significant operations using tunnels, sending fighters behind enemy lines in the Strip’s envelope to kill Israeli soldiers and potentially capture them. Several operations were successful, where Israelis admitted to the killing of over 10 soldiers in total.