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Footage of the charity giving Gazans cash raises fears that it has little control over where the funds will end up in an area that is controlled by Hamas Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A UK charity raising money for Gaza is facing a police investigation over claims the cash ends up funding Hamas.
Save One Life UK has been reported to counter-terror police over fears some of the money it distributes to children may be diverted to the terror group.
The London-based charity has raised around £2 million in the past four years, with most of its aid directed to Gaza since the start of Israel’s military retaliation to the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023.
But The Telegraph understands that concerns have been raised about the lack of controls over the way the funds raised are spent.
A complaint about Save One Life UK’s activities was submitted to the Metropolitan Police on Thursday via the Government’s online system for reporting material promoting terrorism or extremism.
The complaint was “passed on to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit for investigation”.
Save One Life UK workers standing outside a destroyed building in Gaza Credit: Save One Life UK/Instagram
The complainant told police: “Save One Life UK is a registered charity that is sending money to Gaza via an unknown broker in Turkey. This looks suspicious.
“A charity can be investigated if it is suspected of transferring money for non-charitable purposes including political activity and support of terrorism.”
Publicity photographs submitted to police by the complainant appear to show charity workers handing over envelopes thought to contain cash to children in Gaza.
In other footage, one of Save One Life UK’s workers describes giving cash to families bombed out of their homes and living in temporary shelter amid the ruins.
That has raised the fear that the charity has little control over where the funds it has raised in the UK ultimately end up in an area that is governed and controlled by Hamas.
The complainant added: “This could provide material support for a proscribed terrorist group like Hamas.“
Save One Life UK launched an appeal for Gaza just hours after Hamas had carried out its deadly Oct 7 attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people – the single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
On the anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks, Save One Life UK published poster saying ‘Palestine stands strong’ Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters
Its Gaza Under Attack appeal appeared to come before Israel had launched any significant military response to the Hamas attacks.
In one image posed on social media on 10.16am on Oct 7, Save One Life UK stated: “Our brothers and sisters in Palestine are under attack again.”
In another poster, published on the first anniversary of the attacks, and after months of bombardment by Israel on Gaza, Save One Life UK declared: “Years of resistance. Palestine stands strong: 12 months of brutal violence. Decades of resilient resistance.”
The poster added: “Palestine stands strong despite the devastation, but they need our support more than ever. Donate to provide life-saving aid today.”
One of those taking part in the charity’s fundraising appeals for Gaza is Sheikh Hassam Al-Haddad, the controversial Islamic scholar.
Mr Haddad, who serves as the chairman of the Fatwa Committee for The Islamic Council of Europe, has previously appeared to pray for a “victory” over Israel.
He wrote on Facebook within hours of the Oct 7 attacks: “[sic] O Allah, support the people of truth in Gaza, Al-Quds and Palestine – they have managed to cause confusion to the enemy’s calculations with a new tactic. Grant them victory and aid them against their oppressors in their struggle for Justice and Truth.”
Among the charity’s trustees is Addeel Khan, the director of Equity Inclusion and Culture at UCL and a former senior executive with the British Red Cross, who is a leading figure in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion policy.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We treat all reports made into the Anti-Terrorist Hotline and online portal as confidential. Because of this, and for operational security reasons, we therefore do not comment on or confirm specific details or matters that may get reported to us through this route.
“However, all reports get reviewed by officers and if it is assessed that further police action is required, then it will get passed to the relevant police force, or counter-terrorism unit to carry this out.”
