How Hamas Moved Over $2 Million Using Crypto And Charities

What Happened

The Justice Department (DOJ) also unsealed charges against al-Zaq and announced 6 arrests.

Blockchain investigators later traced connections. Chainalysis identified a counterparty linked to al-Zaq’s exchange deposit address. That counterparty also sent funds to exchange addresses that had received money from Hamas-linked wallets previously targeted by Israeli seizure orders.

Market Context

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 3 people and 2 charities, accusing them of moving $2 million to Hamas through crypto and sham charities.

The charities are Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. The three individuals are reportedly:

Why It Matters

The goal was allegedly to make transfers harder to trace. According to the indictment, al-Zaq believed crypto could help hide where the money came from and where it was going.

The network allegedly changed exchanges when questioned. When one crypto platform asked about the source of funds in May 2023, the partner allegedly moved to another exchange.

Details

Saleem al-Zaq (a Hamas military wing member)

Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid (France-based fundraisers)

Charity Appeals in France, Crypto Transfers to Gaza

Treasury described Saleem al-Zaq as a Gaza-based battalion deputy in Hamas’s armed wing. His network used money services businesses and crypto wallets to move funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades, it said.

Barika and Oualid run the two charities, which claimed to raise aid for civilians in Gaza. Treasury says they passed the money to al-Zaq, who sent it to Hamas.

Treasury did not say how much of the total was moved as crypto. It said Barika and Oualid sent al-Zaq hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets. OFAC’s entries list no wallet addresses.

The release also described the scheme in broader terms.

“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,” the release said.

OFAC previously sanctioned Gaza-based crypto exchange Buy Cash in October 2023.

How the Alleged Funding Network Worked

According to US prosecutors and Treasury, the alleged scheme worked roughly like this:

Donations were collected in France. Barika and Oualid allegedly raised money through charities that presented themselves as supporting civilians in Gaza.

The money was pooled through traditional banking. Chainalysis said some of the funds were collected in a French bank account before being moved further.

Al-Zaq allegedly asked for crypto. Prosecutors say he initially received money through Western Union. In December 2021, he allegedly asked a France-based partner to send Bitcoin or other digital currency instead.

Funds were converted into crypto and sent onward. Treasury says Barika and Oualid transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets to al-Zaq.

Prosecutors say al-Zaq and his associates raised about $1.75 million through December 2025, including at least $626,000 from US donors. Treasury says the wider financing network moved more than $2 million to Hamas.

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