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U.S. Nonprofit Raised $300,000 for Israeli Sniper Unit Associated With Killings of Unarmed Palestinians
“Your support allowed us to get my son and his elite sniper unit the most advanced scopes needed in order to have an advantage over Hamas when they go into Gaza.”
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No one has done more to expose the actions of individual Israeli soldiers in Gaza than journalists and researchers Younis Tirawi and Sami Vanderlip. Their work on the Al Jazeera I-Unit’s film “Gaza” and subsequent reporting exposed the “Ghost Unit”—a sniper unit inside Gaza that has claimed to have killed over 100 people in Gaza, including unarmed Palestinians. In October, the Belgian government launched an investigation into a Belgian-Israeli member of the unit, Alon Ben Sira, for alleged war crimes. And, in case you missed it, they exposed a battalion focused on razing Gaza, especially around the Netzarim corridor, for Drop Site News.
Today’s story by Vanderlip focuses on a different aspect of Israel’s war on Gaza: the funding that individual soldiers and units are receiving from abroad—and, specifically, through U.S. nonprofits. In fact, there is a nonprofit registered in Illinois that was specifically set up to raise money for silencers and sniper stands for the very same Ghost Unit exposed by Tirawi and Vanderlip.
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A U.S. nonprofit has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for an Israeli sniper unit for the stated purpose of buying scopes, silencers, and other equipment. The unit, which is nicknamed Rephaim, or “Ghosts,” has since been implicated in possible war crimes and killing over 100 people in Gaza and has been tied to the killing of four unarmed Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
On October 9, 2023, the mother of unit member Daniel Raab—an Illinois native—posted on Facebook that the nonprofit, registered as “Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 202,” was in need of “helmets, rain gear, barrels, vests, sniper stands, silencers, camouflage, and the list goes on.”
In its 990 filings, Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 202 is described as “an organization dedicated to catering to the additional requirements and the overall welfare of soldiers serving in a specific military unit.” The description continues to say that the primary focus of the nonprofit is, “to ensure that soldiers have access to the necessary resources, support systems, and amenities that can enhance their comfort, safety, and well-being while they are actively serving their duty.”
The charity has raised significant amounts of money for the sniper unit since its establishment last year. According to its tax filings, Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 2002 raised over $304,000 in the year ending December 2023, of which it spent roughly $208,000 in grants—money which its promoters emphasize goes directly to soldiers in the unit.
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The nonprofit was registered in Illinois by Benjamin Raab, who appears to be Daniel's father. Melissa Raab, who has identified herself as his mother on Facebook posts, is listed as a director in the 2023 IRS filings. (The 2024 form is not available yet.) As of publication, the links to donate are still active. Drop Site reached out repeatedly to the nonprofit itself, Benjamin Raab, and Melissa Raab in advance of the publication of this story but received no response.
According to social media posts, the non-profit’s funds were used to purchase military equipment. “Your support allowed us to get my son and his elite sniper unit the most advanced scopes needed in order to have an advantage over Hamas when they go into Gaza,” Daniel’s mother Melissa wrote in a note shared by a family friend on Facebook on October 27, 2023.
“There is advance [sic], high tech equipment that only the United States Army, and only the Navy SEALs have. We can get this equipment for the snipers,” she said, also sharing a voice note by Daniel himself.
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The Ghost Unit
On April 19, 2024, Shalom Gilbert, another member of the 202 Paratroopers Battalion posted a montage video of his battalion’s activities in the Gaza Strip. Like many similar videos uploaded to social media by Israeli soldiers since the start of the war in Gaza, Gilbert’s footage shows in detail the tremendous devastation wrought upon the territory by the Israeli military assault. While there is typically very little combat footage in the montages, this particular video shows three separate clips of snipers targeting apparently unarmed people.
The battalion’s video states in blunt terms their intention to bring violence upon Gaza.: “When they meet the 202nd battalion they are going to regret being born,” a text displayed in the video says.
Around two minutes into the montage, grainy thermal imagery displays a scene of two men, appearing unarmed, walking down a street and in civilian clothes. The man then falls to the ground, appearing to have been shot. The second man runs away to the left, outside of the camera view.
Source: Shalom Gilbert on YouTube
Fast forwarding about five minutes into the montage, footage that appears to be taken from a higher vantage point or a drone, showing two people, one dead and lying motionless on the ground and the second leaning over him. A shot seems to be fired at him, throwing him backwards. He appears to have been killed on the spot.
Source: Shalom Gilbert on YouTube
Shortly afterwards, there are grainy thermal images of two men walking side by side. The one on the left of the picture is slightly ahead. He appears to be shot, falling to the ground immediately, while the other man, who is slightly behind, runs off.
Source: Shalom Gilbert on YouTube
The videos showings the killings was first made public in October as part of the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit’s film, “Gaza,” and geolocated to the area of the hospital —the Tel Hawwa neighborhood in southern Gaza City. (Sami Vanderlip, the author of this story, was a researcher on the film, “Gaza,” along with Younis Tirawi.) There are questions about the legality of the killings shown in the video, which targeted people not appearing to hold any weapons. Charlie Herbert, a retired major general in the British army, expressed concerns about the scene that the video displayed. “I don't know the context of what happened before, I don’t know what happened 2 minutes before that. You know, they may have been tracked,” he said. “They may have been involved in contacting and shooting at Israeli forces, they may have been legitimate targets. But it sure doesn't look like it to me.”
In October, the Belgian government launched an investigation into Alon Ben Sira, a dual citizen, for alleged war crimes as a result of Tirawi’s reporting on the sniper unit.
Drop Site News also obtained a video from February from the sniper unit’s Instagram account, geolocated to Khan Younis, showing the targeting of a Palestinian who appeared unarmed and posing no threat. According to the soldiers who boasted about it, he was shot from a distance of 1.26 kilometers away.
Source: @rephaim9 on Instagram.
The same Instagram account posted a story in February with four members of the unit. The post claimed that these soldiers set an Israeli military record for long-distance sniping—stating that they neutralized a target identified as a terrorist from 1.26 km away.
The caption reads: “Interesting fact: The team, in collaboration with Adir and the Citroën ‘Rank of lieutenant and above,’ is responsible for the IDF record in operational sniping after eliminating a terrorist at a range of 1,260 meters.”
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U.S. Nonprofits Supporting the Israeli Military
According to publicly available online registry filings, Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 202 was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS in early August 2023.
The activities of Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 202 are not an isolated case but represent a part of a broader trend in which U.S.-based nonprofits have significantly ramped up fundraising efforts for the Israeli military since their assault on Gaza began following the attacks of October 7.
One of the most prominent organizations in this space is the Israeli military affiliated Friends of the IDF, which raises close to $100 million annually. Their consistent ability to generate immense sums underscores the deep financial and ideological ties between pro-Israel organizations in the United States and the Israeli military.
Smaller organizations have also been able to mobilize significant resources to support the assault on Gaza. One case in point has been the Ari Fuld Project, which has raised over $855,000, according to a tabulation of their various public campaigns set up in support of a number of units in the Israeli military since October 7. According to the group, these funds are going toward purchasing everything from protective eyewear to drones for Israeli soldiers.
Speaking generally, Sarah Lee Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, said that the IRS looks to U.S. law and not international when considering whether a nonprofit purpose is legal or not, but that international law could be considered through the War Crimes Act. “It stands to reason that someone should be able to file a complaint to say that an organization should have their nonprofit status cancelled because they are aiding and abetting war crimes under the War Crimes Act.”
Documenting Israel, an online social media account that aims to document “daily events in Israel relating to security, terrorism and general Jewish life” to its thousands of followers have leveraged its social media platforms to start a fundraising campaign for Israeli soldiers following October 7th. They have since raised over $130,000 to buy equipment ranging from helmets and scopes to tactical vests for soldiers serving in Gaza. Videos and photos of soldiers thanking donors for new equipment like helmets, vests, and drones have been used as powerful marketing tools to garner greater support.
“There are dozens of 501(c)(3)s that are funding West Bank settlements – which is a war crime that should be covered under War Crimes Act, but so far the IRS has not done its job to ensure that nonprofits are not funding illegal acts,” added Whitson. “From a purely legal standpoint, if the IRS was doing its job it’d be investigating and shutting down nonprofit organizations that are funding war crimes. That’s not only what international law demands, but what American law demands.”
The trend also highlights a disparity in how nonprofits are scrutinized. HR 9495 or Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, passed the House mainly along party lines. If signed into law it would grant the Treasury to revoke tax-exempt status of nonprofits that are subjectively deemed to be supporting “terrorism”—a move that many critics believed would be used to target pro-Palestinian groups in particular. Meanwhile, organizations supporting units within the Israeli military would continue to operate without similar oversight.
While fundraising links for the tax-exempt charity remain online, the social media page has since been taken down. Social media posts from Raab’s mother and other family members show efforts to solicit donations on Facebook, emphasizing that any money given would go directly to soldiers serving in the unit.
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As the donations aimed at buttressing capacity came in, the unit bragged of its impact in the onslaught of Gaza. On March 14, 2024, PAZAM, a public relations company associated with the Israeli military, posted on Facebook that the sniper unit of the 202 Battalion had reached “100 eliminations of terrorists.” The message read:
Sniper Unit of the 202
Was everywhere since the start of the war
Sderot, Kfar Aza, Beeri, Gaza City, Rimal, Shuja’iyya, Khan Younis and soon maybe Rafah
Currently standing at 100 eliminations of terrorists and they’ll reach more !!!
Let’s cheer for these legends.
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Raab also acknowledged the role that the money that flowed from donors to the sniper unit in helping build its capacity in the war.
“I would like to first and foremost thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who has been a part of and contributed in action or in spirit, but specifically in action in terms of capital to the organization Friends of Paratroopers Unit 202 Sniper Team,” he said in a voice note from October 27, 2023, shared on Facebook by a family friend.
“The work that you have done and the results of your tireless work, effort and capital has absolutely changed our capabilities to accomplish our missions, to go into battle, to win, to protect ourselves, to protect our comrades and come home safely. And I would like to send a message to continue that work, keep it coming. It's doing nothing but helping us and it is much needed.”
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Murtaza Hussain and Younis Tirawi contributed reporting.
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