U.S. Treasury Sanctions Hamas Financing Network That Moved $2M Through Crypto

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a Hamas financing network on October 2, saying the scheme moved more than $2 million to the group through sham charities and cryptocurrency wallets, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The action blacklists a Gaza-based deputy in Hamas’s military wing, two fundraisers based in France, and the two charities they ran, as part of a multi-jurisdictional operation led by the FBI.

Who OFAC designated

OFAC named Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, a battalion deputy in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades, who the department says oversaw a financial network that used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to move funds to the group. Treasury noted that al-Zaq also worked as a photographer in Hamas’s media office and attended official events near senior officials, underscoring his trusted position. The designations also cover Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, who ran purported charities in France, and the two organizations they controlled: Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux.

How the scheme moved money

From 2020 through 2026, Barika, Oualid and al-Zaq collected more than $2 million for Hamas, roughly $1.5 million of it after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, according to Treasury. The two fundraisers sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to al-Zaq, who Treasury says funneled the money to the Al-Qassam Brigades. Al-Zaq also promoted the fundraisers’ donation accounts on his own social media.