The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a senior UK-based Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official, along with three other individuals and three entities that provided material support to Hamas terrorists, OFAC confirmed on Thursday.
Two of the entities are “sham charities tied to the Muslim Brotherhood that funneled substantial funding to Hamas’s military wing,” the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, OFAC stated.
This happened “even as the terrorist organization continues to obstruct a peaceful resolution in Gaza,” OFAC added.
These sanctions expose a “multi-layered typology in which Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and Hamas-directed front organizations operate transnational fundraising channels, using charitable facades and underground banking networks to move and disguise funds across jurisdictions,” OFAC said.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official was identified as Mahmoud al-Abyari, the secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood General Secretariat, who OFAC said has a “long history of senior leadership roles within the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Abyari also supported fundraising for Filistin Vakfi and Hayat Yolu, which OFAC had already sanctioned for their ties to Hamas. He also worked with Muslim Brotherhood groups to support and provide financial assistance to Hamas, OFAC noted.
OFAC also highlighted Seven Spikes Global, which it says is an alias for the Indonesia-based Tujah Bulah Global. This organization was created by Hamas to “fundraise and provide revenue” for Hamas’s military wing, OFAC said.
It also highlighted the Gaza-based Madad Palestine Charitable Society, which was also created as a front to raise funds for Hamas’s military wing.
Turkish entity sanctioned for running underground banking service for Hamas
Another newly-sanctioned entity is the Turkey-based El-Kahira for General Trading, which transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hamas funds, OFAC said.
Turkey-based Khuldun Khamis Zakaria Alden, the owner of El-Kahira, as well as Turkey-based shareholder Zaid Issam Ahmed al-Jebouri, and Abdullah Issam Ahmad al-Jebouri, also a shareholder in El-Kahira, were also sanctioned by OFAC.
The organization provides underground banking services, servicing both fiat and cryptocurrencies, to Sweden-based organized crime groups, such as the Foxtrot Network, OFAC said.
Zaid and Abdallah al-Jebouri also provided underground banking services for another organized criminal group, OFAC added.
“The Trump administration will relentlessly pursue terrorists, and those who finance them,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“Whether operating under the guise of charities, businesses, or underground financial networks, those who enable Hamas will be exposed, sanctioned, and held accountable,” Bessent added.
