Treasury crackdown exposes crypto's role in $2 million Hamas fundraising network

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions targeting individuals and charities it says were part of a six-year fundraising network that moved more than $2 million to Hamas. Treasury identified two France-based fundraisers, Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, and designated a Hamas military-wing member among the parties involved. The department said the operation collected funds from 2020 through 2026, including roughly $1.5 million after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Treasury said the network used a mix of purported humanitarian donations and cryptocurrency transfers to move money to Gaza. While it did not say the entire $2 million was sent via crypto, the department alleged the pair sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, identified as a deputy battalion commander in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. The sanctions freeze any assets the designated parties hold under U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibit Americans from transacting with them. Treasury warned that foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions with the designated parties could face secondary sanctions risk. The restrictions also apply to entities more than 50% owned, directly or indirectly, by any designated party. Treasury framed the move as part of a broader effort to follow money across mixed fundraising networks rather than treat cryptocurrency as the lone funding source for militant groups. The announcement follows reporting that the Al-Qassam Brigades had advised donors to avoid sending funds directly from platforms such as Binance and instead route funds through other crypto services before moving money to a TRON wallet. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measures target "sophisticated financial facilitators and fraudulent schemes designed to exploit the public."