Saleem Alzaq
Introduction
Saleem Alzaq is a 45-year-old resident of Gaza whom federal prosecutors describe as the center of an international Hamas financing network: a Hamas member since at least 2017 and, according to the Justice Department, a battalion deputy in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, serving in the photography department of its Shujaiyya Brigade media office. In an indictment unsealed at the start of October 2026, Manhattan federal prosecutors charged him with collecting more than $1.7 million through fundraising campaigns that purported to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza while the money was funneled to Hamas. Alzaq has not been arrested and is believed to remain at large in Gaza.
Background Information
Per the Justice Department, Alzaq serves in the Photography Department of the Al-Qassam Brigades’ Shujaiyya Brigade Media Office, a Hamas propaganda office, where he photographed Hamas events β including events led by senior Hamas leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar β and distributed the images through the Hamas propaganda apparatus. Prosecutors say he has also posted Hamas propaganda across multiple social media platforms, including posts celebrating the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Since at least January 2020, prosecutors allege, he has operated the fundraising network that solicits donations from individuals around the world, including the United States, under the guise of charitable campaigns.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not adjudicated. Alzaq faces a four-count federal indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York. The charges are allegations: he has not been arrested, has not entered a plea, and there has been no trial. The Justice Department’s own release states that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The indictment, unsealed Thursday and announced publicly by the Justice Department on October 2, 2026, alleges that Alzaq solicited financial donations on behalf of Hamas through social media campaigns presented as humanitarian aid β food and winter necessities for Palestinians in Gaza β between January 2020 and December 2025, raising more than $1.7 million, including at least $626,000 from donors in the United States. Prosecutors say one campaign launched on October 7, 2023 itself, claiming to raise money for Gazans injured that day, and stayed open for about five days. He is charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, conspiring to commit money laundering β each carrying a maximum 20-year sentence β and conspiring to defraud the United States, which carries five years.
The case owes its detail in part to an undercover New York Police Department detective who, posing as a New York-based Hamas supporter, contacted Alzaq on Snapchat in November 2025. Alzaq allegedly told the officer he had ways to receive money in New York and offered to connect him with contacts there, telling him: “My friends are in New York, so many of them; they are in New York and in the state of Ohio and all over the United States.” The following month, prosecutors say, Alzaq described working with people who wanted to get money to “the Green” β which prosecutors identify as a reference to Hamas β said he received money and passed it to “the Green,” and explained he could not easily prove it because Hamas members avoided using identification.
Prosecutors also cite coded language: Alzaq allegedly told the undercover officer money could be delivered monthly using terms including “bread,” “bakeries,” “buy bread” and “give it to the bakeries,” and in January 2024 messages cited in the indictment he told a U.S.-based donor who asked about “the bread people” that he had “learned the way” and could deliver “whatever you want.” In a January 2024 voice message to Abdel Adhami β one of two Louisiana brothers arrested in the same network and already covered on this site β Alzaq allegedly said: “This is the message I wanted to deliver to the person who donated the breadβ¦ Some of them received the bread, thanks be to God.” He is also accused of instructing followers in October 2024 not to write “Free Palestine” or “long live Hamas” on donations to his PayPal accounts so the accounts would not be shut down.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The unsealing drew statements from the top of American law enforcement. Attorney General Todd Blanche said “anyone who finances or assists terrorist organizations responsible for the deaths of American citizens should expect to be prosecuted,” and FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would “never stop our efforts to cut off funding to Hamas terrorists.” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald of the Southern District of New York said “as alleged, Saleem Alzaq was the center of a Hamas financing network that operated around the globe, soliciting more than a million dollars from individual donors including here in the United States,” and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch β whose department’s intelligence analysts built the case β called Alzaq “a leader in Hamas’ military arm responsible for planning and carrying out terrorist attacks” and said the network exposed more than $2 million being funneled to Hamas.
The same announcement rounded up his alleged network: Louisiana brothers Abdel Adhami, 35, and Omar Adhami, 33, of Covington, were arrested for allegedly contributing approximately $94,000 and $11,000 respectively; Raed Yousef, 56, of Lutz, Florida, was charged with providing nearly $50,000; and in France, three of Alzaq’s alleged associates β Faouzi Barika, Amel Oualid and Nordine Barika β were arrested by the French General Directorate for Internal Security. Alzaq alone, believed to be in Gaza, remains beyond reach.
Current Status
As of October 2, 2026, Alzaq has not been arrested: prosecutors say he has been in Gaza during the alleged crimes and is believed to remain there at large. His four conspiracy charges are unadjudicated β no plea, no trial date, and no counsel of record had been publicly identified in coverage of the unsealing; the New York Post reported it was unable to immediately verify which attorneys, if any, represented him. The indictment stands as the central public document of the case against him, and the Justice Department has framed his prosecution as ongoing despite his absence from custody.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Alzaq’s alleged double life β Hamas media-office operative by day, “humanitarian” fundraiser by Snapchat β is now a federal indictment that names him as the hub of a multi-country financing web. He faces up to 65 years in prison across the four counts if convicted, and the public identification of his photograph, his coded vocabulary and his fundraising methods has permanently exposed an operation prosecutors say ran for nearly six years. His alleged associates are in custody in Louisiana, Florida and France; his own freedom of movement, name and fundraising methods are permanently exposed on paper even before any arrest.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice, “Coordinated Arrests and Charges Dismantle Hamas Terror Finance Network Raising Funds from the United States” (October 2, 2026) β source
- CBS News, “$1.7 million raised in scheme for Hamas, including from U.S. donors, prosecutors say, announcing charges” (October 2, 2026) β source
- New York Post, “Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds” (October 2, 2026) β source
- New York Post, @nypost post on X (October 2, 2026) β source