The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned several individuals and organizations it says helped raise more than $2 million for Hamas through a fundraising network that combined purported humanitarian donations with cryptocurrency transfers.
Treasury identified a Hamas military-wing member, two France-based individuals and two charities that it alleges played roles in a six-year operation to move funds to the militant group. The department said the network relied on both conventional donations and crypto as part of its fundraising efforts.
Treasury alleged that Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid solicited money in France for humanitarian purposes before directing the funds to Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization in numerous jurisdictions and has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
The network raised more than $2 million from 2020 through 2026, with $1.5 million collected after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, according to Treasury. The department said Barika and Oualid transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, a Gaza-based deputy battalion commander in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. Treasury did not say that cryptocurrency accounted for the full $2 million raised.
The latest action highlights the growing attention U.S. authorities are giving to crypto as part of broader fundraising and payment networks. Treasury officials have previously maintained that Hamas and other militant groups continue to rely primarily on traditional financial systems, despite earlier crypto-related sanctions and seizures.
The sanctions follow reports last month that the Al-Qassam Brigades instructed donors to avoid sending cryptocurrency directly from Binance. Instead, donors were reportedly encouraged to use other crypto services before transferring funds to a TRON wallet.
The new measures block property and interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and organizations that are within U.S. jurisdiction. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions with the sanctioned parties. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions involving them could face secondary sanctions. The restrictions also apply to companies that are at least 50% owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more designated parties.
“Terrorist organizations like Hamas rely on sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
