US expands Hamas sanctions after tracing crypto transfers from France

The US sanctioned two French charities and three individuals after alleging they helped channel cryptocurrency and other funds to Hamas.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Association Baraka, Ensemble C Mieux, Faouzi Barika, Amel Oualid and Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq to its sanctions list on Oct. 2, expanding the roster of counterparties that crypto exchanges and payment firms subject to US rules must screen.

Treasury alleges Barika and Oualid, both based in France, sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to al-Zaq, whom the agency described as a Gaza-based deputy battalion commander in Hamas’ military wing. The two fundraisers and associated organizations collected more than $2 million for Hamas between 2020 and 2026, according to Treasury.

The agency did not say that the entire $2 million was transferred using digital assets, distinguishing that broader fundraising figure from the cryptocurrency transactions it specifically attributed to Barika and Oualid.

The designations extend US efforts to disrupt Hamas financing networks at a time when authorities are increasingly tracing digital-asset transfers alongside traditional banking and cash-based channels. They also immediately bring the sanctioned parties within OFAC’s existing restrictions governing property held by US persons or moving through US jurisdiction.