US Sanctions Senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Official Over Alleged Hamas Financing
In a statement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified al-Abyari as the Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood General Secretariat and said he has held senior leadership positions within the organization for years.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Mahmoud al-Abyari, a United Kingdom-based senior leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, accusing him of helping raise funds and provide financial support to Hamas.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified al-Abyari as the Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood General Secretariat and said he has held senior leadership positions within the organization for years.
The Treasury alleged that al-Abyari supported fundraising for institutions previously sanctioned by the United States over alleged ties to Hamas and worked with Muslim Brotherhood groups to provide financial assistance to the Palestinian militant group.
The sanctions also target three individuals and three entities that the Treasury said provided material support to Hamas. According to OFAC, two of the designated entities operated as sham charities tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and funneled substantial funding to Hamas' military wing.
The Treasury said the action exposes what it described as a transnational fundraising network in which Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and Hamas-linked front organizations used charitable organizations and underground banking systems to raise, move, and conceal funds across multiple jurisdictions.
The sanctions build on previous U.S. measures announced in January and March 2026 targeting Hamas's global financial network, including financial facilitators, operatives, and organizations accused of supporting the group.
The Treasury said al-Abyari was designated under Executive Order 13224, as amended, for acting on behalf of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which the United States designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization in January 2026.
The action was coordinated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which the Treasury said helped identify key components of Hamas's alleged financial infrastructure.