Hamas has witnessed a surge in donations in bitcoin since the outbreak of armed conflict with Israel at the start of May, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"There was definitely a spike" in bitcoin donations, according to an unidentified Hamas official quoted by WSJ Wednesday.The Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip is considered a terrorist organization by many countries in the West and must turn to means outside mainstream financial system for funding.The Hamas official did not disclose how much had been received but said it was rising as a proportion of overall donations.Association between bitcoin and Hamas funding is nothing new. Israeli blockchain analytics firm Whitestream identified it in February 2019.Civilian businesses in Gaza also find cryptocurrencies useful. One developer told CoinDesk in August 2019 that some offices "do $5 million to $6 million a month."