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The United States has imposed sanctions on a member of Hamas's military wing, two France-based individuals and two affiliated entities over what the US Department of the Treasury described as a multi-year financing network that moved more than USD 2 million to Hamas through purported charities and cryptocurrency channels.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the designations on Friday (local time), saying that the action exposed a financing architecture that used deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency to raise and transfer funds to Hamas. Terrorist organisations like Hamas rely on sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public to sustain their operations, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Treasury will continue to identify, isolate, and impose consequences on those who provide Hamas with the financial lifelines it needs to survive, he added. According to the Treasury Department, the action was part of a broader, multi-jurisdictional operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to dismantle several Hamas fundraising ventures, including those active inside the US. OFAC said it was working with the FBI and local law enforcement partners, including the New York Police Department, to expose and disrupt what it described as Hamas's exploitation of the charitable sector and dismantle key nodes of its financial infrastructure. The US Treasury designated Gaza-based Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, described as a battalion deputy in Hamas's military wing, for allegedly overseeing a financial network that used money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer funds to the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades. According to OFAC, al-Zaq also served as a photographer in the Hamas media office and attended official Hamas events where he was in close proximity to senior Hamas officials. The Treasury had also designated France-based Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, whom it accused of operating purported charities to raise funds ostensibly for humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. According to the department, Barika and Oualid worked with al-Zaq to raise and transfer money to him, which he then funnelled to Hamas. During a six-year period from 2020 to 2026, Barika, Oualid and al-Zaq collected more than USD 2 million for Hamas. Of that amount, USD 1.5 million was collected after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The Treasury said Barika and Oualid sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to al-Zaq, while al-Zaq advertised both their fundraising accounts on his social media accounts. Barika jointly established France-based Association Baraka with al-Zaq, which the Treasury said was used to solicit public donations that were sent to al-Zaq for transfer to Hamas. Oualid established France-based Ensemble C Mieux, which, according to the Treasury, was similarly used to raise money to send to al-Zaq and Hamas. OFAC said the designations were made under the US's core counterterrorism sanctions authority. The Treasury noted that the US Department of State designated Hamas on October 31, 2001, and that Hamas is also designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Following Friday's action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Entities owned directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked, the Treasury Department said. OFAC said its regulations generally prohibit transactions by US persons or within or transiting the United States involving property or interests in property of blocked persons, unless authorised or exempt. The Treasury further said violations of US sanctions could result in civil or criminal penalties for US and foreign persons, adding that OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. (ANI)
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