US issues sanctions against charities supporting Hamas, PFLP

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday targeting individuals and sham charities that it said were prominent financial supporters of the Palestinian groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

AI Brief

The US sanctioned five groups and individuals for secretly funding Hamas through fake charities.
These groups operated in Gaza, Turkey, Algeria, the Netherlands, and Italy.
The Treasury warned that terror groups like Hamas and PFLP misuse charities to fund violence.

The individuals and groups targeted were funding Hamas' military wing under the pretense of doing humanitarian work, in Gaza and internationally, the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury said it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas, which still holds hostages it seized in the group's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The entities sanctioned included the Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society, the Turkey-based Filistin Vakfi, the El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, which is based in Algeria, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation and the Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro, based in Italy, the department said in a statement.

The five individuals targeted on Tuesday were leaders associated with the groups, it said.

"Today's action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by armed fighters like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations," Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said in the statement.

Hamas and PFLP have a long histroy of abusing non-profit organizations and charities, the Treasury said.