Key takeaways:
- Prosecutors say the campaigns raised more than $1.7 million between January 2020 and December 2025, including at least $626,000 from U.S.-based donors.
- Saleem Alzaq faces four conspiracy charges and has not been arrested; prosecutors say he was in Gaza during the alleged crimes.
- Abdel and Omar Adhami were arrested in Louisiana and face charges connected to the alleged fundraising, NBC News reported.
Federal prosecutors have charged a Gaza man with helping raise more than $1.7 million for Hamas through appeals that claimed to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians, including at least $626,000 from U.S.-based donors.
An indictment unsealed Thursday in New York accuses Saleem Alzaq, 45, of helping run fundraising campaigns from January 2020 through December 2025 that purported to pay for food and winter necessities in Gaza. Prosecutors say the money instead went to Hamas. Alzaq has not been arrested and was in Gaza during the alleged crimes, according to prosecutors.
Two Louisiana brothers, Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami, were also charged in connection with the alleged scheme, NBC News reported. They were arrested last month and detained pending a hearing, according to court records cited by NBC News. Neither had entered a plea, and an attorney for the brothers did not immediately return a request for comment.
Prosecutors allege Alzaq has been a Hamas member since at least 2017 and posted propaganda for the group on social media, including messages celebrating its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. NBC News described him as a purported media representative for Hamas; CBS News reported that prosecutors called him a longtime member. The indictment says he launched a new campaign on the day of the attack, claiming to raise money for Gazans injured that day. It remained open until about Oct. 12.
The alleged network reached beyond Gaza and the United States. Co-conspirators in France helped collect and transfer money, prosecutors say. CBS News reported that the two Louisiana brothers allegedly contributed about $105,000 and that a Florida man allegedly provided nearly $50,000.
According to NBC News, Abdel Adhami used Snapchat accounts from 2021 to November 2025 to post Hamas propaganda and solicit donations, directing followers to Telegram. He also sought contributions on Instagram. His complaint says he sent nearly $35,000 to one PayPal account and $46,600 to another between November 2023 and June 2025; investigators say the funds reached Alzaq. Omar Adhami allegedly sent Alzaq about $3,000, NBC News reported.
Investigators say Alzaq used coded language to discuss transfers. In a January 2024 voice message to a Snapchat account controlled by Abdel Adhami, he said, “Some of them received the bread, thanks be to God,” according to court papers cited by NBC News. In November 2025, an undercover officer posing as a New York-based Hamas supporter contacted Alzaq. Prosecutors say Alzaq later told the officer he received money and delivered it to “the Green,” which they say meant Hamas, and discussed monthly transfers using terms including “bread” and “bakeries.”
The indictment also alleges Alzaq warned donors in October 2024 not to write “Free Palestine” or “long live Hamas” on donations to his PayPal accounts to avoid account closures.
Alzaq faces conspiracy charges involving material support to Hamas, sanctions violations, money laundering and defrauding the United States. The first three charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years if he is convicted; the fourth carries up to five years. NBC News reported that Abdel Adhami faces material-support, wire-fraud and money-laundering charges, while Omar Adhami faces material-support and wire-fraud charges.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said investigators had uncovered an international finance network. In a statement quoted by CBS News, she described “more than $2 million being funneled to Hamas,” a higher figure than the more than $1.7 million in fundraising specified in the indictment.
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