Cairo, Egypt – Public and political outrage is mounting in Mauritania over the fate of millions of dollars collected under the guise of “supporting Gaza” and “backing the resistance.” Amid accusations of mismanagement and embezzlement, there are also warnings that these funds—estimated at millions of dollars—have not reached their intended beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, they have allegedly been diverted to real estate and commercial investments abroad.
The donation scene: Mauritanian generosity in the dock
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, the Mauritanian people, with their tribes, individuals, and associations, have demonstrated an epic of solidarity. Dozens of campaigns have been organized, marked by notable tribal competition, from the Beni Hassan, Tenwajio, and Awlad Ammi tribes to merchants in local markets. Reports indicate that substantial sums, exceeding $10 million, have been delivered, mostly directly, to the Hamas representative in Nouakchott or to affiliated NGOs, such as the National Alliance for the Support of the Palestinian People. This has occurred outside the official diplomatic channels of the Palestinian Authority or neutral international organizations.
This direct approach raised fundamental questions about oversight mechanisms, particularly in the absence of public and documented financial reports detailing the amount of funds collected, their transfer channels, and how they were distributed within Gaza. Consequently, these contributions transformed from a symbol of national unity into a source of suspicion and heated controversy.
The Palestinian ambassador’s position: A call for transparency
At the heart of this controversy, the Palestinian ambassador to Nouakchott, Bashir Abu Hatab, made statements described as bold. He confirmed that “donations have not reached the Gaza Strip” and expressed the embassy’s readiness to oversee these funds to ensure they reach their intended recipients with complete transparency.
This stance did not go unnoticed, as it was met with smear campaigns and media attacks. Local observers view this as a decline in public discourse and an attempt to obscure the truth rather than confront it.
Allegations of embezzlement and international networks
The criticism wasn’t limited to Mauritania; it extended beyond its borders. Gazan activist Hamza al-Masri accused unnamed parties of misappropriating up to $250 million collected in Mauritania alone in the name of Gaza.
Al-Masri held the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority legally responsible for pursuing these funds.
In a broader context, Maher Farghali, a researcher specializing in political Islamist movements, pointed out that the crisis is part of a larger system. Hamas itself had previously accused the Waqf al-Umma Foundation and Muslim Brotherhood networks in Turkey, in an official statement last year, of misappropriating half a billion dollars in donations.
Farghali explained that these funds were managed by coordinators within the movement and invested in tourism and real estate projects in countries such as Turkey and Morocco. This, too, was far removed from the battlefields and the areas of need.
Lawyer Ould Amine: “Swindlers in the cloak of holiness”
In Mauritania, lawyer Mohamed Ould Amine escalated his rhetoric, describing those who oversaw the fundraising as having engaged in “fraud and deception.” In a widely debated post, Ould Amine asked: “Anyone who gathers his tribe and incites them by playing on tribal pride and boasting, while keeping a considerable share for himself, is a fraud, even if he has a long beard, wears a turban, and sits in the mosque shedding crocodile tears.”
He emphasized that the role of intellectuals is to expose these individuals to the public, because social equilibrium cannot be built on lies and the theft of donations intended for the poor.
Ethical and institutional crisis
For his part, journalist Mohamed Nema Ould Omar believes that Mauritania is currently facing a complex “moral crisis,” where the sanctity of the Palestinian cause has become intertwined with narrow financial calculations.
Ould Omar emphasizes that evading legitimate questions through accusations of treason will not alter the reality: “There are no distribution reports, no transparency, and an official silence that leaves the door wide open for interpretations.” Furthermore, Ould Omar stresses three crucial facts that must be confronted, foremost among them that protecting diplomacy is a collective responsibility. In the same vein, the mistreatment of the Palestinian ambassador does not reflect the ethics of the Mauritanian people.
He said that publishing the documents and financial data is the only way to end the controversy. If the funds were spent correctly, why fear disclosure? This case has exposed a deep gap in the management of relief work and the urgent need for oversight mechanisms to ensure that the “people’s trust” is not misappropriated.
