The official account of Israel Foreign Ministry posted, on November 4, a picture that allegedly shows the October cover of the American magazine Forbes which contained a photo of Hamas Leader outside, Khaled Mashal, accompanied by an allegation claiming that he reached a net worth of $5 billion.
The cover is accompanied by the following description: "He made his fortune from people’s pains and the generosity of the world. A licensed thief who leaves his people hungry for bread and water. He calls himself ‘the liberator,’ but in fact he is the one who steals their freedom and a better future."
The allegation reached millions of views on X, from which many quoted that "Forbes" revealed the fortune of the leader in Hamas. Many accounts on X posted the claims accompanied by comments such as: "Khaled Mashal is one of the Middle East billionaires with a net worth of $5 billion."
The official account of Israel shared the claim on X website stating: "Congratulations to Hamas leader Khaled Mashal on reaching a net worth of $5 billion while more than half of his own citizens in Gaza live under the poverty line. It pays to be a mass murder terrorist."
The same account later clarified that: "the magazine cover above is satire and illustrative but you know what is very real? The bank accounts of Hamas leaders filled with billions of dollars at the expense of innocent civilians in Gaza."
Repetitive Israeli Claims About the Fortunes of Khaled Mashal and Hamas Leaders
It is worth mentioning that the claim was not only posted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The official account of the Israeli Embassy in the United States also posted a tweet on October 29 stating that: "Hamas leaders net worth: Abu Marzuk $3 billion, Khaled Mashal $4 billion, Ismail Haniyeh $4 billion, Hamas’ annual turnover: $1 billion. While Gazans are deprived of basic needs, Hamas uses aids and funds to line their own pockets." The tweet was posted without any corroborating proofs.
Forbes Did Not Publish Information About Khaled Mashal’s Fortune
Forbes did not publish a photo of Mashal and information about his fortune on its October cover which means that both the photo and information on the cover are fake.
Forbes posted thoughts about its October edition stating: "Our October magazine unveils 100 sustainable leaders in the Middle East, and an exclusive interview with Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, as he encourages the international cooperation sustainable business.”
Forbes Middle East Edition of October 2023
Back to the latest Forbes ranking of world’s richest 20 Arabs in the Middle East (2023), we do not find the name of Khaled Mashal in the list. Moreover, Misbar searched in the complete list of the world’s billionaires 2023 which contained 2640 people, and Khaled Mashal was not amongst them.
It is also important to mention that the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s account later posted a photo of Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas political bureau, on a fake cover of Forbes claiming that his fortune reaches $4 billion.
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