Treasury Dismantles Major Hamas Financing Network

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of Public Affairs

Press Release:            October 2, 2026

Contact:                     Treasury Public Affairs, Press@treasury.gov

Treasury Dismantles Major Hamas Financing Network

Coordinated U.S. Government Action Exposes Multi‑Year Scheme Using Sham Charities and Cryptocurrency to Fund Hamas

WASHINGTON— Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a member of Hamas’s military wing, along with two France-based individuals and two affiliated entities that provide critical financing to Hamas. 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. 

“Terrorist organizations like Hamas rely on sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public to sustain their operations,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.  “Treasury will continue to identify, isolate, and impose consequences on those who provide Hamas with the financial lifelines it needs to survive.”

Today’s action aligns with a broad, multi-jurisdictional operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to dismantle several Hamas fundraising ventures, including those active inside the United States.  As part of a coordinated, whole-of-government approach which includes local law enforcement partners such as the New York Police Department, OFAC continues to work closely with the FBI to expose and disrupt Hamas’s continued exploitation of the charitable sector to finance terrorism and to dismantle key nodes of Hamas’s clandestine financial infrastructure.  Treasury will continue to sustain pressure on Hamas’s global network of financial facilitators, operatives, and sham charities that support its terrorist activities. 

 

Today’s designations were issued pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886 (hereafter E.O. 13224, as amended), the United States’ core counterterrorism sanctions authority.  On October 31, 2001, the U.S. Department of State designated Hamas pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having committed, or posing a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals, or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.  Hamas is also designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

 

HAMAS AL QASSAM BRIGADE MEMBER

 

Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq (al-Zaq) is a Gaza-based battalion deputy in the Hamas military wing who oversees a financial network that has used various money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer significant funds to the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades.  He also served as a photographer in the Hamas media office and attended official Hamas events where he was afforded close proximity to senior Hamas officials, further demonstrating his trusted status within the organization.

 

Al-Zaq is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Hamas.

 

FRANCE-BASED SHAM FUNDRAISERS

 

Faouzi Barika (Barika) and Amel Oualid (Oualid) operate from France, where they run purported charities ostensibly to raise money for humanitarian purposes to aid Gazan civilians.  In reality, they partner with al-Zaq to raise and transfer money directly to him, which al-Zaq in turn funnels to Hamas.  During a six-year period from 2020–2026, Barika, Oualid, and al-Zaq collected more than $2 million for Hamas, of which $1.5 million was collected after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.  Barika and Oualid sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to al-Zaq, and al-Zaq has advertised both Barika’s and Oualid’s fundraising accounts on his own social media accounts.

 

Barika jointly established France-based Association Baraka with al-Zaq, which he uses as a mechanism to solicit public donations that are sent to al-Zaq for transfer to Hamas.  Oualid established France-based Ensemble C Mieux, which, like Association Baraka, she uses to raise money to send to al-Zaq and Hamas.       

 

Barika is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hamas.  Oualid is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, al-Zaq.  Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Barika and Oualid, respectively.   

 

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

 

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.  Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.

 

Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.  OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis.  OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions.  In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.  Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions.  Individuals located in the U.S. or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000.

 

Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions.  OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.

 

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.  For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here and to submit a request for removal, click here.

 

Click here for more information on the persons designated today.

 

 

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