London bridges charity gave £1.1million to Muslim group whose trustee 'has ties to Hamas' while capital's river crossings crumble

A charity which protects some of London's most iconic bridges awarded £1.1million to an organisation whose trustee has alleged links to Hamas, it was revealed today.

The City Bridge Foundation (CBF), set up in the 13th century initially to maintain London Bridge, today has a £1.5billion endowment and is also responsible for the maintenance of Tower Bridge, Blackfriars, Southwark and the Millennium Bridge.

But it also uses its considerable fortune to send tens of millions of pounds to various social justice campaigns including climate change initiatives and a slavery review.

Critics have argued that funds should instead be put towards protecting other bridges in the capital owned by local authorities or TfL.

The charity is now under scrutiny over a £1.17million grant it awarded to Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) in 2023, an umbrella organisation for Muslim led charities, which pay an annual membership fee.

MCF's treasurer, Shuaib Yusaf, currently heads up another charity, Al-Khair Foundation (AKF), which is currently under investigation for its alleged links to Hamas.

AKF paid a £25,000 membership fee to MCF in 2024-2025, and delivers relief in impoverished areas.

Founded in 2003, it has more recently been known for its work in Gaza, where millions of Palestinians have been in dire need of food, clean water and other emergency aid following Israel's response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

But it is Hamas that AKF is alleged to have links to, after the Daily Mail revealed in August that the Charity Commission in the UK had launched a probe into the claims.

The investigation focuses on whether AKF and its partners had connections to the terrorist group and had funded it in any way.

MCF treasurer Shuaib Yusaf is also the CEO of AKF, although MCF says none of the grant, first reported by The Times, went to the organisation. 

A legal representative for MCF said that Yusaf had stepped back from his role since the launch of the Charity Commission probe, but he is still listed as a trustee on their website. 

It comes after Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who worked for an AKF 'partner charity' in Gaza, was arrested after an FBI probe exposed alleged intercepted messages between Hasna and a senior Hamas leader and a document detailing payments totalling almost £4million to the terrorist organisation.

It's alleged that Hasna, who has claimed to have been AKF's global director since January 2023, arranged with the Hamas leader to divert some food parcels and cash to the group.

US prosecutors have charged Hasna, who was arrested in the UK on July 31, with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, conspiring to finance terrorism, and financing terrorism, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

FBI New York Assistant Director James C Barnacle, Jr said at the time: 'Mohammad Hasna allegedly used a charity to funnel millions of dollars in aid to Hamas - a designated terrorist organization responsible for countless terrorist attacks, death, and destruction around the world.'

The scale of AKF's rapid financial growth after the October 7 massacres appears to be a key part of the FBI's case.

The US legal documents claim the 'sham charity's' gross income almost doubled from about $41.8million in 2023 to $81.56million in 2024. For the year ending July 31, 2025, it reported gross income of about $100million.

These figures mirror AKF's accounts, which show income of £31million in 2023, £62million in 2024 and £75million last year.

The Mail understands that Shin Bet, one of Israel's spy agencies, helped the FBI agents with their investigation into Hasna.

The Charity Commission said it is probing the nature of AKF's links to Hasna.

AKF told the Daily Mail it strongly denies funding or links to any proscribed organisation, and any suggestion it had received money from the CBF grant was 'entirely misleading'.

MCF said any funding from the CBF supports its work in London, is not used for international humanitarian programmes or given to third parties, and AKF has never received services funded by any CBF grant.

It added AKF's membership has been put on hold while the Charity Commission's inquiry is ongoing, and Yusaf has 'voluntarily' stepped back as treasurer and trustee, as well as his board membership. 

In a statement on its website, AKF said it self-referred to the Charity Commission following Hasna's arrest before the probe was launched.

It said the 'extremely serious allegations against Al-Khair Foundation stem from a complaint made by a campaigning organisation, UK Lawyers for Israel'.

It added: 'Al-Khair Foundation takes the allegations concerning the Foundation extremely seriously. 

'It is cooperating fully with the statutory inquiry launched by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 5 August 2026, in light of the arrest of Mohammad Yousef Hasna, an employee of a partner charity delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza.'

It said it has appointed an independent consultant to 'establish the facts' and provide them to the inquiry.

The CBF's original endowment came from tolls, rents and funds donated through wills, but has since expanded into property investment and other projects.

It began allowing its funds to be used for wider charitable purposes in 1995, by which point its income far exceeded the cost of maintaining its five bridges.

Questions have now been raised about how its grants and charity contributions are managed, as well as the appropriateness of the causes they support – especially given there are currently at least four other bridges on the Thames closed or restricted due to disrepair.

A CBF spokesman said: 'City Bridge Foundation supports and maintains five of London's bridges at no cost to the taxpayer, paid for by property and funds built up over the last 900 years. 

'As required under our charity's governing documents, these five Bridges are our primary purpose as a charity; the Bridges come first and we work hard to keep them open, safe and in good working condition.

'Our surplus funds not required for our Bridges support organisations through charitable activities to benefit Londoners. We have been doing this work since 1995. 

'Every grant application is checked robustly and monitored. We take active steps to ensure this funding is used for the benefit of the inhabitants of Greater London.'

A legal representative for MCF said in a letter to the Mail: 'MCF was awarded two grants by the City Bridge Foundation. Both grants were awarded following an open application process and MCF was one of eight such organisations which were granted funding.

'As regards the funding received in the context of the Anchor Programme, this has been and continues to be used solely for MCF’s own programmes and activities in the UK, including training and capacity-building for grassroots organisations serving marginalised communities across London. 

'None of this funding is transferred or redistributed to MCF members or other third parties, whether directly or through sub-granting arrangements.'

They added: 'As would be expected of any responsible, charitable organisation, as a matter of good practice, AKF’s membership of MCF has been placed on hold whilst the statutory inquiry is ongoing.'

A spokesman for AKF said: 'Al-Khair Foundation categorically denies any links to, or funding of, proscribed organisations and is cooperating fully with the Charity Commission's ongoing inquiry. 

'In August we informed the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) of our decision to step back from its board with immediate effect, pending the outcome of the inquiry. 

'Any suggestion of a connection between MCF's funding from City Bridge Foundation and Al-Khair Foundation, or that any of those funds have been allocated to us, is entirely misleading.'