US Targets Major Hamas Financing Network With Sanctions

The Department of the Treasury has taken action toward dismantling a financial network providing critical funding to the Hamas terrorist outfit.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an individual from Hamas’s military wing, together with two people from France and two affiliated entities, according to an Oct. 2 Treasury statement. The network had transferred over $2 million to Hamas over multiple years through cryptocurrencies and sham charities.

“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 in the statement.

“Treasury will continue to identify, isolate, and impose consequences on those who provide Hamas with the financial lifelines it needs to survive.”

All properties and interests in properties of the sanctioned individuals in the United States are now blocked under the measure and must be reported to OFAC. The sanctions also prohibit transactions from U.S. individuals involving any property or interests of the blocked individuals, according to the Treasury.

Hamas is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Hamas military wing member sanctioned by the Treasury, Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, 45, is a battalion deputy in the Al-Qassam Brigades, which is the Hamas wing responsible for planning and executing terror strikes, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

From around January 2020, al-Zaq, based in Gaza, has allegedly run a global fundraising network for Hamas, collecting donations, including from individuals in the United States. The fundraising activities are promoted through social media, often presented as humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, the funds are instead funneled to Hamas, the DOJ said.

The two France-based individuals sanctioned by the Treasury—Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid—allegedly assisted al-Zaq in collecting and transferring funds, according to the department.

Between 2020 and 2026, the three individuals allegedly collected more than $2 million for Hamas, out of which $1.5 million was obtained following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, the Treasury said. Barika and Oualid allegedly set up two separate entities to funnel funds, and these organizations are now under sanctions.

Department of State spokesperson Tommy Pigott said that the latest sanctions underscore U.S. commitment to dismantling Hamas’s global support networks and denying the terror outfit the resources it needs to plan and carry out attacks against Americans, U.S. partners, and the broader Middle East.

“Disrupting these networks is central to broader U.S. efforts to isolate Hamas, protect the integrity of legitimate humanitarian assistance to Gazan civilians, and support conditions for lasting regional stability,” Pigott said.

U.S. lawmakers have also taken action to stifle support for Hamas.

In May, a group of 25 lawmakers sent a letter to President Donald Trump, asking to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and eliminate it from the United Nations budget, alleging UNRWA employees’ ties with Hamas.

At least 12 UNRWA employees were alleged by Israel to have taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, while roughly 10 percent of the agency’s employees in Gaza are estimated to have links with terror groups, according to the letter.

“Any aid organization in Gaza or otherwise must be demonstrably free of ties to terrorism and committed to transparency, accountability, and peace. We must ensure this failed system doesn’t continue reinforcing the conditions that have fueled terrorism for generations,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

In June, the UNRWA announced the termination of 70 staff members in Gaza. However, the organization said that the dismissals do not validate any allegations leveled against the individuals.