The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned five individuals and entities involved in a network accused of raising over $2 million for Hamas. The funds were collected between 2020 and 2026 through fraudulent charitable organizations and cryptocurrency transactions, with hundreds of thousands of dollars transferred in digital assets.
Sanctions target Salim Abdallah Salim al-Zak, a deputy battalion commander in Hamas's military wing, along with France-based individuals Fawzi Barika and Amel Oualid. The network operated under the guise of humanitarian aid for Gaza, with approximately $1.5 million collected following the events of October 7, 2023.
Under the new measures, all assets of the sanctioned parties held in the US or controlled by US persons are subject to blocking. Foreign financial institutions facilitating significant transactions for these individuals face the risk of secondary sanctions as part of a broader FBI operation against Hamas funding channels.
The US Department of Justice previously noted that Hamas advised donors to avoid Binance, suggesting alternatives like Trust Wallet, Bybit, and OKX to bypass security controls. Meanwhile, analysts from Elliptic and the FinCEN have previously questioned the scale of crypto-based funding, noting that only a portion of tracked suspicious transactions likely reached the group.
