Key points

  • OFAC designated three individuals and two France-based entities under U.S. counterterrorism sanctions authority.
  • Treasury alleges the network moved more than $2 million to Hamas from 2020 through 2026, including cryptocurrency transfers.
  • The designations block U.S.-linked property and generally prohibit transactions involving the named parties unless authorized or exempt.

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on three people and two France-based entities that it alleges operated a multi-year financing network for Hamas using charitable fronts, money-services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets. The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the designations on October 2, saying the network moved more than $2 million from 2020 through 2026. The action is an administrative sanctions measure based on the U.S. government's allegations; it is not a criminal conviction or a court finding against the named parties.

Treasury targets five people and entities

OFAC designated Gaza-based Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, whom Treasury describes as a battalion deputy in Hamas's military wing who oversaw a financial network serving the Al-Qassam Brigades. It also designated France-based Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, along with Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. Treasury alleges the two entities presented themselves as charities supporting Gazan civilians while Barika and Oualid worked with al-Zaq to collect and transfer funds. Reuters independently reported the identities and scope of the sanctions after Treasury's announcement.

Related reporting: U.S. sanctions BitBank over alleged Bitcoin transfers to IRGC

Cryptocurrency was one part of the alleged network

Treasury said Barika, Oualid and al-Zaq collected more than $2 million during the six-year period, including $1.5 million after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. It alleges that hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent to al-Zaq in cryptocurrency. The announcement does not say that the entire $2 million moved through digital assets, identify particular tokens or publish wallet addresses for the reported transfers. That distinction matters because the action describes a financing system spanning charities, money-services businesses, social-media fundraising and cryptocurrency rather than a crypto-only operation.

What the sanctions change

Property and interests in property of the designated people and entities that are in the United States, or controlled by U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50% or more by one or more blocked persons are also generally blocked. Unless licensed, authorized or exempt, U.S. persons and transactions within or passing through the United States are generally prohibited from involving the designated parties' property. Treasury also warned that certain dealings can expose non-U.S. financial institutions to secondary-sanctions risk.

Independent reports add enforcement context

Reuters reported that the measure covered a Hamas military-wing member, two France-based fundraisers and two related entities. The Guardian separately reported that the Treasury action accompanied a broader law-enforcement operation involving arrests in the United States and France. Those criminal proceedings are legally separate from OFAC's designations and require their own evidentiary process. The sanctions announcement therefore should not be read as resolving criminal liability, the ownership of every transfer or the final destination of all funds cited by authorities.

Crypto compliance implications

The case illustrates how authorities increasingly assess digital-asset activity alongside conventional fundraising and payment channels. Exchanges, wallet providers and other financial institutions must screen designated parties and entities covered by OFAC's ownership rule, but transaction monitoring alone may not reveal a broader network built around front organizations and intermediaries. The next verifiable developments would include additional wallet disclosures, court filings connected to the parallel cases, or further designations. Until then, the amounts and roles described remain Treasury's stated basis for the sanctions, supported by independent reporting but not adjudicated findings.

Sources

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