US sanctions Hamas financing network run through French charities and crypto

The United States issued additional sanctions on Friday targeting Hamas’s financial network, naming a member of the militant group’s military wing, two France-based fundraisers and two entities, the Treasury Department said, according to Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-issues-sanctions-against-hamas-financing-network-treasury-says-2026-10-02/).

“These designations expose a sophisticated, multi-year financing architecture that moved more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels, demonstrating the organization’s persistent ability to adapt its fundraising mechanisms to evade detection,” Treasury said in a statement.

The Hamas member, Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, is a battalion deputy in the group’s military wing based in Gaza and oversees a financial network that has used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades, Treasury said.

Arab News reports the other designated individuals are Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, linked to the France-based charities Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux, and that the network raised more than $2 million between 2020 and 2026, including $1.5 million after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel (https://www.arabnews.com/world/us-sanctions-alleged-hamas-finance-network-including-two-france-based-charities-3004278).

The Times of Israel adds that the US Justice Department has indicted al-Zaq, with arrests made in Florida, Louisiana and France, though al-Zaq himself is not believed to be in US custody (https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-imposes-sanctions-on-hamas-financial-network-including-two-france-based-funds/).