U.S. Treasury Sanctions France-Based Charities, Three People Over Alleged Hamas Financing

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned what it described as a Hamas financing network that used France-based sham charities and cryptocurrency to move more than $2 million to the militant group over several years.

In an Oct. 2 action titled “Treasury Dismantles Major Hamas Financing Network,” Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC — the agency that administers U.S. sanctions — designated three individuals and two France-based entities. Treasury said the network relied on public fundraising presented as humanitarian aid for غزة while allegedly routing money to Hamas through cross-border channels.

The people designated were Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, whom Treasury identified as a Gaza-based battalion deputy in Hamas’s military wing; and Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, whom Treasury said operated from France. The entities were Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux, both based in France.

Treasury alleged that from 2020 to 2026, Barika, Oualid and al-Zaq built a “multi-year financing architecture” that collected more than $2 million for Hamas. Of that total, Treasury said, $1.5 million was raised after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

According to Treasury, Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux solicited donations from the public as though the money would support humanitarian relief in Gaza. Instead, Treasury alleged, the groups partnered with al-Zaq and sent funds to him for Hamas. Treasury also said al-Zaq promoted their fundraising accounts on social media, helping drive donations into the network.

The department said the scheme used both conventional and digital payment channels. Barika and Oualid allegedly sent “hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency” to al-Zaq, while al-Zaq used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer funds onward to the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.

The sanctions were issued under Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886, the U.S. government’s main counterterrorism sanctions authority. Treasury said that means any property or interests in property of the designated people and entities that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. U.S. persons are generally barred from dealing with them.

Treasury’s action is an administrative sanctions measure, not a criminal conviction or indictment. OFAC designations are a financial enforcement tool meant to freeze assets under U.S. jurisdiction and cut off access to the U.S. financial system.

Treasury said the designations were part of a broader, multi-jurisdictional operation led by the FBI to dismantle Hamas fundraising ventures, with partners including the New York Police Department. The move fits into a wider U.S. campaign since Oct. 7, 2023, targeting Hamas fundraising networks, including those that authorities say have used charities and cryptocurrency as cover.

“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 department’s release.