Israeli forces have bombed Hamas laboratories in Gaza used to produce explosives that were funded by an American-Muslim group, Patrick Poole reports in Pajamas Media. The laboratories were based out of the Islamic University of Gaza and were financed by Arab Student Aid International, an organization based out of Dublin, Ohio. The organization is largely funded by institutions and individuals in the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia.

“Arab Student Aid International (ASAI), in Ohio in the United States, is a charitable public foundation…The institution provides financial assistance to IUG in many fields such as labs and scholarships for students,” the Islamic University of Gaza’s web site states. The university is widely known to have been founded and controlled by Hamas.

The Washington Post reported in 2006 that several future leaders of the Hamas government now in control of Gaza received scholarships or subsidies from the group. The Post also said that at least two dozen members of the Hamas cabinet had been educated in the United States.

The university has also been connected to the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim-American charity that was shut down for financing terrorism. Poole notes that federal prosecutors alleged the foundation was using the Islamic University of Gaza to send funds to Hamas.

The conflict in Gaza has dramatically escalated in recent days after Israeli forces launched a major offensive into the area after Hamas ended the ceasefire and began firing rockets into Israeli cities. The organization came to power in Gaza after they won the 2006 election in the Palestinian territories, defeating the ruling Fatah party.