Usama Ali is an alleged Hamas operative, leader and financier.
He is also Canadian.
And so are others in the Palestinian terrorist group that killed 1,200 and took more than 200 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, Global News has learned.
About 450 people with assorted roles in Hamas have ties to Canada, according to a source familiar with the intelligence on the matter.
The source, who spoke on the condition of not being identified, said the list was comprised of permanent residents, as well as those with family or associates in Canada.
But it also included citizens like Ali, an alleged member of the Hamas executive team who runs the terror group’s financial office.
The figure dates to the time of the Hamas attack on Israel that brought the Middle East to the brink of regional war and may no longer be so high, the source added.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed tens of thousands, and airstrikes have targeted the Hamas leadership in Lebanon, Iran and Qatar.
As Gaza’s de facto government, Hamas controlled a broad array of institutions for almost two decades, and many residents could have therefore had dealings with the group out of necessity.
But the number said to have been active in the organization in various capacities, and connected to Canada, is significant and includes a top leader.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service confirmed it was investigating Canadians in Middle East terror groups, but declined to elaborate.
Hamas is a listed terrorist entity in Canada, making it illegal to participate in or contribute to “any activity” of the group, which Public Safety Canada calls a “radical Islamist-nationalist terrorist organization.”
“The government of Canada must act urgently to confront the threat posed by Hamas-linked individuals, both to prevent attacks on Canadian soil and to ensure Canada is not exploited to facilitate terrorism abroad,” said Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“Participation in a banned terrorist group must bring real consequences. Canadians deserve to be protected from terrorist threats.”
A leading expert on Hamas said the 450 number was plausible and that other western countries also accounted for significant numbers.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “This will include people at all kinds of levels.”
They would range from full Hamas members to those who served in government in some capacity when it was led by the terror group, Levitt said.
Holding foreign citizenship offers advantages for groups like Hamas, such as easier movement across borders and consular protection, he said.
“Having a foreign passport, especially a western passport, is a ticket to travel,” said Levitt, author of the book Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.
Hamas fighters at the site of the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis, Gaza, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Saeed Jaras/Middle East Images/ABACAPRESS.COM.
The most senior Canadian in Hamas is a 63-year-old with a trim grey beard who also holds Lebanese citizenship and goes by the names Usama Ali, Radwan and Rizwan, among others.
U.S. sanctions levied against him in 2022 list three Canadian passports he has used. While his current whereabouts are unknown, the branch he allegedly runs is based in Turkey.
Details of Ali’s life in Canada are unclear, but the U.S. Treasury Department has alleged that in 2017, he was appointed head of the Hamas Investment Office.
Originally in Saudi Arabia, the investment office relocated to Turkey and accumulated an estimated US$500 million in assets, including construction and real estate companies.
The businesses spanned Africa and the Middle East and were used to hide money, generate revenue and bankroll Hamas, according to the Treasury Department statement.
“It’s a strategic long-term investment,” said Levitt, a former U.S. Treasury official. “You are living off the income that the companies are generating.”
On paper, Ali had no role in the companies but “was involved in their business activities,” and co-ordinated “financial transfers to Hamas,” the statement alleged.
However, Ali’s deputy, Hisham Younis Yahia Qafisheh, a Jordanian, held “key roles” in the Hamas-controlled businesses, the statement added.
He was deputy chair of Trend GYO, a Turkish development company, which has denied supporting Hamas. He was also chair and director of development companies in Sudan, according to the allegations.
The Hamas investment office covertly held additional assets in companies in Algeria and the United Arab Emirates, the treasury statement said.
A significant portion of company funds went to the Hamas military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, which led the Oct. 7 attack, it added.
In 2019, Ali became a member of the Shura Council, a consultative body that elects Hamas executives and shapes the terror group’s strategies and policies.
He also served on the Executive Committee, the main Hamas decision-making body, which was led by political leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to the U.S. and Israel.
Ali “maintained direct contact with senior Hamas leaders,” including Haniyeh, deputy chief Salih al-Aruri and financial official Zahar Jabarin, Israeli authorities alleged.
Following the October 2023 attack, the Treasury Department imposed additional sanctions on the Hamas investment wing and a list of financial facilitators.
“The companies in Hamas’s portfolio have operated under the guise of legitimate businesses and their representatives have attempted to conceal Hamas’s control over their assets,” the announcement said.
“This investment network is directed by the highest levels of Hamas leadership and has allowed Hamas senior officials to live in luxury while ordinary Palestinians in Gaza struggle in harsh living and economic conditions.”
Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July 2024, while al-Aruri was killed in Beirut. There has been no public notice that Ali has died, and the Israeli defense ministry declined to comment on his status.
But not all those who have been associated with Hamas are as high-ranking, nor do they even live in the Middle East.
One is allegedly from Winnipeg.
Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi).
On May 22, 2025, Israeli forces struck a business in Gaza City accused of storing and transferring millions of dollars for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Dubai Money Exchange had been a target of Israeli counter-terrorism officials since 2022, when it was sanctioned over a cryptocurrency scheme that moved money for Hamas.
The company was unrelated to the city of Dubai. Rather, it was located in Gaza and run by Khader Dan, “a prominent money exchanger in the service of Hamas,” the Israeli government alleged in its sanctions listing.
Dan’s operation was a “significant part of Hamas’ economic infrastructure,” according to an announcement by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing.
As part of their crackdown on Hamas financing, Israeli authorities seized about 600 digital “wallets” they alleged were associated with the Dubai exchange.
One of them was traced to Canada. It allegedly belonged to Omar Alkassab, a Syrian who had arrived in Winnipeg as a refugee in 2016 and worked as a house painter.
The Israeli paperwork on the seizure of Alkassab’s crypto account lists a Manitoba phone number and an email address associated with a Winnipeg residence.
When a Global News reporter visited the bungalow, the person who answered the door said he did not know Alkassab. Neither Alkassab nor his lawyer responded to emails.
According to his immigration records, Alkassab is from the Syrian city of Al-Bab and worked in nearby Aleppo as a delivery driver for Coca Cola.
A LinkedIn account that has now been deleted said that in Syria he “rescued people buried under rubble from airstrikes,” and was project manager for a humanitarian group called Omar’s Helping Hands.
As Syria spiralled into civil war and fell to ISIS, Alkassab moved with his parents and siblings to Ankara, Turkey, and then to Canada.
After three years in Winnipeg, he applied for Canadian citizenship in 2019 and passed the test in 2021, but he is still awaiting a decision.
The details of how his Gaza crypto account was used are not publicly available, nor are explanations for why a Manitoba resident would need a crypto wallet in the Palestinian territory.
An expert said the seized wallets could belong to “money mules” who use their cryptocurrency accounts to convert digital currency into cash in quantities below the limits flagged for money laundering.
“It’s one way people try to cover their tracks,” said Andreas Park, a University of Toronto at Mississauga finance professor.
Levitt said donors could have had other reasons for wanting to send cryptocurrency through a Gaza exchange, including for altruistic, humanitarian purposes.
“Is it possible that you have a Syrian trying to become a Canadian who wants to give money to needy people in Gaza and that’s why he has it? Yes,” he said.
“Why is it going through this particular Hamas-affiliated financial institution? Is there another way to do it? Can anybody open up accounts there?”
“Those are things authorities are going to need to investigate.”
Global News reporter at house where Omar Alkassab lived after coming to Canada from Syria. He is under investigation over a Hamas cryptocurrency scheme.
The Canadian government launch an investigation into Alkassab in May 2022, a month after the Israelis seized his crypto wallet, internal government documents show.
His citizenship application was suspended are four federal agencies are looking into his background, according to the records released to Global News by the Federal Court.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has categorized it as a national security matter, and brought in the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Canada Border Services Agency, the file indicates.
The CSIS Security Screening Branch sent its assessment report on Alkassab to immigration officials on Jan. 16, 2025. It was heavily redacted prior to being publicly released but flagged his Gaza crypto wallet.
“According to publicly available information on the website of the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of the Israeli government, Alkassab is the owner of a Binance cryptocurrency wallet believed to be the property of Dubai Company for Exchange in the Gaza Strip,” CSIS wrote in its report.
“The NBCTF has designated Dubai Company for Exchange as a terrorist organization.”
Record of Investigation report on Omar Alkassab.
Federal Court
Meanwhile, Alkassab has launched a court case against the government for delaying his citizenship, claiming he was mystified as to why it had been held up.
He has no criminal record, he said, and has not served in any military or “organizations.” He was unaware of any investigations against him, he added.
In July, lawyers at the federal Justice Department launched another case, this one asking the court to allow the government to withhold sensitive evidence about Alkassab.
Divulging it would be “injurious to national security,” the government lawyers argued in their Federal Court application.
Alkassab, 25, wrote in his court statement that he has been left to wait as his family and friends have been sworn in as Canadians, which has “affected my confidence, self-esteem, and overall outlook on the future.”
“The uncertainty and instability caused by my lack of citizenship has taken a great toll on both my mental and emotional well-being.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
