Key Highlights
- U.S.Treasury sanctioned five individuals and entities accused of moving more than $2 million to Hamas between 2020 and 2026.
- Hundreds of thousands of dollars were allegedly sent through cryptocurrency, with al-Zaq using crypto wallets to move funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades.
- The sanctions follow a September seizure of more than $560,000 in crypto allegedly destined for Hamas.
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Hamas military wing member, two France-based individuals and two groups over an alleged funding network that moved more than $2 million to Hamas.
According to the official release on October 2, the action targets a six-year operation that allegedly used charities, social media and cryptocurrency to move money to the group.
Al-Zaq at the center of the network
At the center of the network is Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, a Gaza-based battalion deputy in Hamas’s military wing, according to Treasury.
According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), al-Zaq oversees a financial network that has used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer funds to Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades.
Treasury also named Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, who operate from France. U.S. authorities accuse the pair of running charities that appeared to collect money to help civilians in Gaza but were instead used to raise funds for Hamas through al-Zaq.
The two groups named in the sanctions are Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. Barika helped establish Association Baraka with al-Zaq, while Oualid established Ensemble C Mieux. Treasury said the groups were used to collect public donations before the money was sent to al-Zaq.
The alleged fundraising continued for years. Treasury said Barika, Oualid and al-Zaq collected more than $2 million between 2020 and 2026. About $1.5 million was collected after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Crypto remains part of the money trail
Crypto was also part of the money trail. Treasury said Barika and Oualid sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to al-Zaq. It also said al-Zaq used crypto wallets along with money service businesses to move funds to the Hamas military wing.
The Treasury said al-Zaq promoted the fundraising accounts of Barika and Oualid through his social media accounts. This helped connect the people collecting the money with the person accused of moving it onward to Hamas.
“Terrorist organizations like Hamas rely on sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public to sustain their operations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Treasury will continue to identify, isolate, and impose consequences on those who provide Hamas with the financial lifelines it needs to survive.”
U.S. targets another crypto network
The latest action follows other U.S. efforts to disrupt Hamas fundraising. On September 1, the U.S. Department of Justice said authorities had seized more than $560,000 in cryptocurrency allegedly intended for the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Investigators also seized digital wallets, web servers, domain names and other infrastructure linked to the fundraising network.
According to court filings from that case, the network used an encrypted messaging channel to direct potential donors to a website. The website used different cryptocurrency wallet addresses to receive donations, allowing the fundraising operation to continue through new addresses.
In 2024, the U.S. Treasury investigated about $165 million in crypto transactions involving U.S. institutions that could have been linked to Hamas before the attack on Israel.
However, the exact amount of cryptocurrency used by Hamas remained unclear, with FinCEN telling Congress that some reported transactions may not have been connected to the group.
Under the new sanctions, property belonging to the designated individuals and groups that is in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons is blocked. U.S. persons are generally barred from carrying out transactions involving that property unless OFAC gives permission. Treasury said sanctions violations can lead to civil or criminal penalties.
The latest action therefore adds another step to the U.S. campaign against Hamas-linked fundraising, with cryptocurrency remaining one of the financial channels examined by American authorities.
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