Germany Bans Ansaar International Over ‘Terror Financing'

German police officers. Reuters file photo
German police officers. Reuters file photo
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Germany Bans Ansaar International Over ‘Terror Financing'

German police officers. Reuters file photo
German police officers. Reuters file photo

Germany on Wednesday banned Ansaar International, accusing it of collecting donations to help finance terrorism worldwide.

The prohibition came along with a series of raids on properties in ten states, with investigators also seizing items.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer "has banned the association Ansaar International and its related organizations. The network finances terrorism worldwide with donations," tweeted ministry spokesman Steve Alter.

"If you want to fight terror you have to dry up its sources of funding," said Seehofer.

Ansaar says on its website it provides humanitarian aid to people affected by war and crises by, for instance, building or financing the construction of hospitals, orphanages and schools.

In 2018 alone, it collected 8 to 10 million euros in donations, according to its first chairman.

The interior ministry said however that the funds are in fact raised with the intention of financing foreign groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas as well as the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab and al-Nusra Front.

"Financial support, even for what at first glance appear to be charitable activities, secures the terrorist groups' power and dominance in the respective region, facilitates the recruitment of activists, and saves the terrorist group money, which in turn can be used to carry out the crimes it plans," said the ministry.



Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
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Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP

Israel on Sunday said it had launched a new national communications satellite on board a SpaceX rocket from the United States.

The Dror 1 satellite was blasted into orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the foreign ministry said.

"This $200 million 'smartphone in space' will power Israel's strategic and civilian communications for 15 years," the ministry wrote on X.

Accompanying video footage showed the reusable, two-stage rocket lift off into the night sky. SpaceX said the launch happened at 1:04 am in Florida (0504 GMT Sunday).

IAI, which called the launch "a historic leap for Israeli space technology", said when it announced the project to develop and build Dror 1 that it was "the most advanced communication satellite ever built in Israel".

In September 2016, an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test in Florida, destroying Israel's Amos-6 communications satellite, which was estimated to have cost between $200 and 300 million.