US Sanctions ‘Sham’ Charities Tied to Hamas

In January, the Treasury Department sanctioned six Gaza-based organizations affiliated with Hamas.

The Department of the Treasury building in Washington on Feb. 27, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on four charities it says are “sham” organizations linked to terrorist group Hamas.

Three of the sanctioned charities—Ghazi Destek Dernegi (GDD), Hayat Yolu, and the Palestinian White Hands Assistance and Solidarity Association—are based in Turkey and are accused of providing material support to Hamas.

“Hamas continues to finance its military wing by exploiting sham charities to support terrorist operations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“The Treasury Department will not allow Hamas to misuse the charitable sector for its violent aims, and we will continue to target these networks wherever they operate.”

The Treasury Department alleged that GDD and Hayat Yolu are part of Hamas’s international financing network, helping the group generate external revenue that supports its military wing. Authorities also say Hayat Yolu has functioned as an operational headquarters and financial hub for the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the administration, internal Hamas documents showed that GDD worked with other sanctioned entities, including Waed Society Gaza, to provide support to Hamas members and assist with construction projects that benefited the group. Separate internal records also indicate that the Palestinian White Hands Assistance and Solidarity Association was integrated into the security apparatus of Hamas’s military wing.

The department also sanctioned Komite Nasional Untuk Rakyat Palestina (KNRP), an organization based in Indonesia, for allegedly funding charitable projects in the Gaza Strip that benefited Hamas. The administration said KNRP coordinated with Hamas to fund and distribute materials intended exclusively for the group’s personnel.

The March 12 move comes as the United States is engaged in conflict with Iran, which backs Hamas.

In January, the Treasury Department sanctioned six Gaza-based organizations affiliated with Hamas.

In June 2025, the United States sanctioned five individuals and five entities for allegedly financially supporting Hamas under the guise of humanitarian work.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Organization of American States.

The group was founded in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin and several associates during the First Intifada. It emerged as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. The name Hamas stands for “Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya,” or “Islamic Resistance Movement.”

Hamas operates both a political and a military wing. Its 1988 charter called for the destruction of Israel.

In 2017, Hamas issued a “document of general principles and policies” stating that “there is no alternative to a fully sovereign Palestinian State on the entire national Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The group carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel—the deadliest single-day killing of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas fired rockets from Gaza into Israel and crossed into Israeli territory, killing civilians and soldiers and taking hostages. In response, Israel launched a war in Gaza, taking out senior Hamas leaders.

A cease-fire was reached last fall to end the war between Israel and Hamas. Under the agreement, all hostages—both living and deceased—were returned in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.