U.S. Sanctions Three People, Two French Charities Over Hamas Financing

The action signals continued use of financial and criminal enforcement tools against alleged Hamas support networks operating through Western jurisdictions.

The Trump administration announced sanctions Friday against three individuals and two France-based charities it alleges participated in a multi-year effort to finance Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip. The Treasury Department and Justice Department also announced six arrests in connection with the alleged network, according to The Guardian.

U.S. Officials described the alleged scheme as a structured financing architecture that moved more than $2 million to Hamas over several years. Investigators said the funds traveled through what they characterized as deceptive charitable organizations and cryptocurrency channels, according to The Guardian.

The administration described the operation as "extraordinary counter-terrorism work" that exposed a "sophisticated, multi-year financing architecture," language contained in statements published by The Guardian. The specific government agencies and officials named in the announcement were the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers the U.S. Sanctions list, and federal law enforcement working with Justice Department prosecutors.

The two charities named in the sanctions are based in France. Their designation under U.S. Sanctions law means American persons and entities are generally prohibited from conducting financial transactions with them, and any assets they hold under U.S. Jurisdiction are subject to blocking. The names of the charities and the three sanctioned individuals were reported by The Guardian but specific details beyond that were not independently confirmed in the available source material.

Cryptocurrency has featured in a growing share of terrorism financing cases brought by U.S. Authorities. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued guidance on digital asset monitoring in prior years, and the Justice Department has pursued parallel criminal cases alongside civil sanctions in several recent enforcement actions involving alleged support for designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Hamas was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 1997, a status that has remained in place under administrations of both parties. Financing Hamas or providing material support to the group is a federal crime under U.S. Law, carrying potential prison sentences of up to 20 years per count.

The inclusion of French-based entities in the sanctions package reflects a pattern in which the U.S. Government has targeted alleged Hamas financing nodes in Europe. European Union member states maintain their own terrorism financing designations, and coordination between U.S. And European authorities has varied in past cases. Whether French authorities were consulted in advance of Friday's announcement was not confirmed in available reporting.

The six arrests announced alongside the sanctions were described by officials as connected to the financing network, though specific charges and the jurisdictions in which those individuals were arrested were not detailed in available source material. What would clarify those details is the release of formal federal indictments, which are public court documents filed in U.S. District courts.

U.S. Sanctions against individuals and organizations alleged to support Hamas have continued across multiple administrations, with the Treasury Department listing dozens of individuals and entities over the past two decades. The scale of the alleged transfers in this case, cited at more than $2 million, is consistent with previous enforcement actions targeting mid-level financing facilitators rather than top-level organizational leadership, based on prior Treasury designations reviewed in public records.

The announcement comes during a period of ongoing conflict involving Hamas in Gaza, which began following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. U.S. Policy has maintained that disrupting Hamas financing is a component of its broader counterterrorism posture, regardless of the status of diplomatic efforts in the region.