OFAC designates Hamas-linked individuals and two French charities
OFAC · 1 source
What's on the official record
2 October — Counter Terrorism Designations. OFAC added three individuals and two entities to the SDN List under Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886, each flagged [SDGT] with secondary sanctions risk under section 1(b).
The individuals: Saleem Abdallah Saleem AL-ZAQ (a.k.a. ALZAQ, Saleem A.S.; a.k.a. ZAK, Salim), a Palestinian national in Shujaiyyah, Gaza, linked to HAMAS; Faouzi BARIKA, a French national born in Tebessa, Algeria, resident in St. Andrew de Cubzac, France, linked to HAMAS; and Amel OUALID (a.k.a. BOUCHEKIF, Amel), an Algerian national born in Oran, resident in Saint Etienne, France, linked to AL-ZAQ.
The entities: ASSOCIATION BARAKA, a French registered charity (No. W331005557) established 13 Oct 2023 in St. Andrew de Cubzac, linked to BARIKA; and ENSEMBLE C MIEUX (a.k.a. "TOGETHER IT'S BETTER"), a French registered charity (No. W423015492) established 01 Jul 2024 in Saint Etienne, linked to OUALID.
The page lists no unrelated administrative list changes. The linked Treasury press release is titled "Treasury Dismantles Major Hamas Financing Network."
Assessment
For a sanctions or trade-finance committee, the designation maps a two-branch Hamas financing chain into France: a Gaza-based individual (AL-ZAQ) reaches a French charity through OUALID, while a second French individual (BARIKA) fronts a separate charity in the same pattern. Both charities are registered nonprofits, which places the exposure in the charitable and nonprofit banking segment rather than in conventional trade flows.
For a compliance screening team, the actionable identifiers are the two French registered charity numbers (W331005557 and W423015492) and the French driver's license and passport numbers attached to the individuals — these are the fields most likely to trip name-matching against customer records.
The page states the designations and the "Linked To" fields but does not state OFAC's policy rationale; the financing-network reading is inference from the page's own linkage fields, not a sourced statement.
What would change this call
A partner-jurisdiction or further OFAC action against the same network within the 90-day pulse would upgrade this from a single-day designation to a sustained enforcement campaign. A French regulatory or judicial action against either charity would confirm the network reading. A delisting petition or administrative correction would narrow the call.
What to check next
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| French charity registry entries for W331005557 and W423015492 | Confirms current registration status and officers |
| SDN List entries for the five names | Verifies the identifiers as published in the consolidated list |
| Treasury press release sb0647 | States the policy rationale the day page omits |
| Any partner-jurisdiction action within 90 days | Tests the network-campaign reading |
Confidence
Confidence in the official record is high: every identifier above is drawn verbatim from the single OFAC recent-actions page dated 2 October 2026. Confidence in the network reading is moderate: the page's own "Linked To" fields connect the five entries, but OFAC's policy rationale is not stated on the page, so motive is inferred rather than sourced.
One likelihood row: a partner-jurisdiction or further OFAC action against the same network is more likely than not within the 90-day pulse, but that is judgment, not record.
Sources
[1] OFAC Recent Actions — "Counter Terrorism Designations," 2 October 2026 — https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20261002