Traders who were tipped off about Hamas' shocking October 7 attack made millions of pounds short-selling Israeli stock, a report has claimed.
Investors with potential links to the proscribed terror organisation put huge bets against the Israeli economy ahead of the attack.
It has been reported that traders could have made more than $100million (£79.3million).
A 60-page study conducted by New York University School of Law’s Robert Jackson Jr and Columbia Law School’s Joshua Mitts.
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“It’s not inconceivable that the profits are above $100million based on the inferences from the current evidence,” Mitts told The Telegraph.
They added: “Days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come.”
Shorts were particularly unusual as many occurred during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The report also noted similar shorting behaviour around Passover in early April.
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Israeli soldiers stand in order, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
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A separate attack was scheduled during the same period but confessions by Hamas attackers captured by Israel revealed it was called off last minute.
Israeli financial authorities said they had launched an investigation into the report.
Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, saw unknown investors shorted 4.43 million new shares between September 15 and October 5.
The specific case of shorting resulted in a profit of around £6million.
Israeli soldiers clean debris and personal items left behind at the site of the surprise attack launched by Hamas
REUTERS
In response to the report, a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange spokesman said: “The matter is known to the authority and is under investigation by all the relevant parties.”
It is not clear whether the trades were carried out by Hamas or one of its affiliates.
A Finra spokesman also said: “Finra’s mission is to protect investors and promote market integrity.
“In line with that mission, Finra monitors the market for unusual trading activity, as part of our normal course of action.
“Finra does not comment on whether or not it is investigating a particular matter.”