US Sanctions Muslim Brotherhood Official and Global Network Over Hamas Financing
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official, three individuals and three entities on July 23, 2026, for providing material support to Hamas, targeting a network the Treasury says spans Egypt, the UK, Indonesia, Gaza and Türkiye.
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| An illustrative image of a silhouette over the backdrop of the Hamas flag. |
Who's Being Targeted
The designations center on Mahmoud al-Abyari, a UK-based senior leader and Secretary General of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's General Secretariat, a group OFAC designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in January 2026. The Treasury accuses him of soliciting support for Hamas-linked organizations Filistin Vakfi and Hayat Yolu, both previously sanctioned.
Sham Charities and a Turkish Money Exchange
OFAC named two organizations it says were created as Hamas financial fronts: Indonesia-based Tujah Bulah Global, operating under the alias Seven Spikes Global, and the Gaza-based Madad Palestine Charitable Society, which collected donations framed as civilian relief that were instead diverted to Hamas's military wing. Separately, Türkiye-based El-Kahira for General Trading was sanctioned for allegedly transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas while providing underground banking services, spanning fiat currency and cryptocurrency, to organized crime groups based in Sweden.
🚨 U.S. SANCTIONS UK-BASED MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD LEADER OVER HAMAS FUNDING
— ME24 - Middle East 24 (@MiddleEast_24) July 25, 2026
The U.S. has sanctioned London-based Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahmoud al-Abyari for funding Hamas. The measures also target Hamas fronts including Indonesia’s Tujah Bulah Global, Gaza’s Madad Palestine… pic.twitter.com/vH3okReaJa
A Pattern of Escalating Enforcement
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration would keep pursuing "terrorists and those who finance them," regardless of whether they operate through charities, businesses or informal financial networks. The action builds on prior sanctions announced in January and March 2026 targeting Hamas's broader financial facilitators, and officials say it was coordinated with the FBI, DEA and Customs and Border Protection.
What the Sanctions Actually Do
All designated individuals and entities have their US-based property and interests blocked, with any company 50% or more owned by a blocked person automatically blocked as well. US persons are barred from transactions involving the designated parties, and foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions on their behalf risk secondary sanctions, including restrictions on US correspondent banking access. The designations were issued under Executive Order 13224, the government's core counterterrorism sanctions authority, first used to designate Hamas in 2001.
Part of a Broader Enforcement Push
The action arrived the same week Treasury also sanctioned more than 50 individuals and entities linked to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel, underscoring how much of Treasury's current enforcement focus sits at the intersection of terrorism financing and transnational organized crime networks that increasingly overlap in their use of the same underground banking channels.