On June 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted five sham charities operating abroad for allegedly funding Hamas’s Military Wing under the pretense of conducting humanitarian work both internationally and in Gaza. OFAC announced that it designated Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society; Türkiye-based Filisin Vakfi; Algeria-based El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work; Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands; and Italy-based Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Ora along with five individuals who serve as leaders in each of these organizations. OFAC also designated a sixth charity, West Bank-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, for supporting the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (“PFLP”) under the guise of representing the interests of Palestinian prisoners. The PFLP was designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in October 1997 and October 2001, respectively.
All of the new designations were imposed pursuant to EO 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups and their supporters. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated person within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.