The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a Gaza-based member of Hamas’s military wing, two France-based fundraisers and two affiliated entities for operating a financing network that transferred more than USD 2 million to Hamas through purported charities and cryptocurrency channels. The action forms part of a broader FBI-led operation targeting Hamas fundraising ventures, including activities inside the United States. Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq allegedly oversaw a network that used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to fund the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades. France-based Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid worked with al-Zaq through Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux, respectively, to solicit purported humanitarian donations. The network raised more than USD 2 million from 2020 through 2026, including USD 1.5 million after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The designations under the U.S. counterterrorism sanctions regime block property and interests in property within U.S. jurisdiction and extend to entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transactions involving the targets, while foreign financial institutions facilitating significant transactions for them may face secondary sanctions.
U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Hamas financing network that moved more than USD 2 million through sham charities and cryptocurrency
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned a Hamas military wing member, two France-based fundraisers and two affiliated entities over a network that moved more than USD 2 million through sham charities and cryptocurrency. The designations block their property within U.S. jurisdiction and create secondary sanctions risks for foreign financial institutions facilitating significant transactions on their behalf.