Italy: Alleged Organizer of Milan Riots Probed on Hamas Funding Scheme
Youssef Siher, the man identified as the presumptive “mastermind” behind the recent riots in Milan, is also being investigated in Genoa on allegations of being involved in a complex scheme providing funding to Hamas, local outlets revealed.
According to the investigations, Siher praised Hamas over the jihadist terrorist group over the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Possible links with a notorious Russian hacker group are also being investigated.
As Breitbart News reported over the weekend, Siher is a 30 year-old Morrocan-heritage veteran of the pro-Palestine movement in Milan.
He stands accused of being the organizer of the “October 17th Movement,” a group attributed with the alleged organization of the violent riots that rocked the historic Italian city over the past days.
Siher was detained on Saturday by local police officers — the same day a new wave of protests rocked Rome, leading to clashes between far-left rioters and law enforcement agents. Public Broadcaster Rai reports that, in the hours following his detention, Siher was transferred to a local prison after an initial interrogation at the Milan Police headquarters in which he refused to collaborate and respond to law enforcement’s inquiries.
Milan prosecutors charged Siher with “organized violence at public demonstrations,” one of the new criminal offenses introduced through an emergency security decree signed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week.
Parallel to the charges brought forward against him in Milan, the Genoa Public Prosecutor’s Office informed that it launched an investigation against Siher into allegations that he is involved in a complex scheme providing funding to Hamas through a network of so-called “charitable organizations.” Rai noted that, as part of the broader investigations, seven individuals were already detained in December 2025 for their alleged role in the Hamas funding scheme.
According to Italian outlets, the Genoa prosecutors profiled Siher after they determined that the 30 year-old man had praised Hamas on social media for carrying out the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. Additionally, social media posts linked to the “October 17th movement” cited the “Egyptian revolt Manual,” a textbook distributed in 2011 during the Arab Spring.
Rai noted the textbook was cited in the organization’s calls to replicate the violent protests that recently unfolded in France.
Siher’s wife, Sagia Hammoud, is also being investigated in Milan for her alleged role in helping organize the riots, facing potential “incitement to commit a crime”
charges. Investigators determined that Siher and Hammoud were the only two individuals able to post new messages in the October 17th Movement’s Telegram and Instagram accounts.
Hammoud, who reportedly works as an “intercultural mediator,” identifies herself on social media as “Lebanese, Palestinian, and Arab by identity.” According to Rai, Siher and Hammoud married last September but have different registered addresses in the Milan province. Unnamed sources close to the investigation reportedly stated that while Hammoud has Italian citizenship and no criminal record, she shares “her husband’s views, in addition to being a prominent member of the Young Palestinians group in Milan.”
Italian investigators were reportedly able to locate and apprehend Siher on Saturday by tracking his wife’s cell phone, since his own personal device was turned off and could not be located. The husband-and-wife couple were found inside a friend’s apartment at the time of the arrest.
Furthermore, and most concerning, Italian anti-terrorism investigators have reportedly detailed that a possible connection between the riots’ organizers and the Moscow-based group NoName057(16) cannot be presently ruled out. The Russian hacker group has been attributed with several attacks against Italian and other Western nation’s institutions in recent years.
Per Rai, investigators evidence suggesting a “coordinated plan to cause as much damage as possible,” both in public squares and on institutional network infrastructures that was presumptively being organized for October 24.
Prior to his arrest, the “October 17th Movement” had publicly threatened to stage future riots every Saturday across several major Italian cities. It is reportedly understood that the arrest of Youssef Siher occurred shortly before he was set to announced meeting points for violent protests in Bologna, Milan, Turin, Genoa, Florence, Rome, Padua, and Bari.
Comments