Mohammad Hannoun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohamed Hannoun is the president of the Palestinian Association in Italy. He was 63 years old in 2025, a Genoa resident, and has worked as an architect.[1][2] In addition to being Palestinian, he has Jordanian citizenship, but has been living in Italy for 40 years.[3][4] The United States and Italian governments have both accused Hannoun of being a financier of Hamas.[3]
2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Mohamed Hannoun and his charity, the Palestinian Association in Italy, worked with the Turkish nonprofit IHH to fund the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla[1] (also known as the Freedom Flotilla 2).[5]
Global Sumud Flotilla
Hannoun supported the 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla, which had boats set sail for Gaza from Genoa.[3][1] Hannoun was also a participant in the November 2025 pro-Palestine protests alongside Global Sumud Flotilla participant Greta Thunberg.[1][6]
2024 Sanremo Music Festival
At the 2024 Sanremo Music Festival, an on-stage plea by one of the performers, Italian-Tunisian rapper Ghali, sparked controversy after the rapper pled on stage to “stop the genocide” in (Gaza). Mohammed Hannoun thanked Ghali for “his clear words against the extermination"; Ghali's remarks were condemned by the Israeli ambassador to Italy.[7][8]
United States and Italian sanctions
In 2000, Hannoun was investigated by the Italian government, but the investigation was closed without action.[9][10][11] In 2023, the United States Treasury Department placed Hannoun and his nonprofit, the Palestinian Association in Italy, on a travel black list, accusing the nonprofit and by extension Hannoun of being financiers of terrorism.[3] In October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against several Italian charities and individuals, including Hannoun.[12]
In November 2024, the government of Milan barred Hannoun from entering the city for several months due to comments he made praising the November 2024 Amsterdam riots.[2][13][4] A year later, Hannoun received a second travel ban from Milan for making statements interpreted as supportive of violence against Palestinians accused of collaboration.[2][4][13]