A purported Hamas media representative was accused of paying the terrorist organization about $1.7 million from donors in the United States and elsewhere who believed they were providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.
Saleem Alzaq was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York and charged with money laundering and sanctions violations, according to the charging document. He was thought to be in Gaza.
In the United States, two brothers were also charged in connection with a long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas, spreading propaganda and soliciting donations for “the poor and orphans of Gaza” via social media, according to court records.
Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami were arrested last month in Louisiana, but details of their charges were not released until after their first court appearance, according to court records.
Abdel Adhami faces charges of material support to a foreign terrorist organization, wire fraud and money laundering, according to a complaint filed Sept. 11 in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Meanwhile, his brother Omar Adhami is also accused of material support and wire fraud, according to his complaint.
The brothers’ attorney did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment. They were held pending a detention hearing and have not yet entered a plea.
From 2021 to November 2025, Abdel Adhami used various Snapchat accounts to post Hamas propaganda and raise funds for the terrorist organization after directing his social media followers to his Telegram account, according to his criminal complaint.
Abdel Adhami also allegedly solicited money for Gaza via Instagram.
In total, from November 4, 2023 to June 2025, Abdel Adhami sent nearly $35,000 to one PayPal account and $46,600 to another PayPal account, the complaint states. The money was funneled to Alzaq, according to the complaint.
Investigators were able to identify Abdel Adhami as the source of these funds last year, after an undercover NYPD online agent contacted Alzaq.
Alzaq, in turn, unwittingly referred the undercover NYPD officer to Abdel Adhami, the complaint states.
“This is the message I wanted to convey to the person who donated the bread,” Alzaq said around Jan. 28, 2024, in a voice message on a Snapchat account controlled by Abdel Adhami, according to court documents. “Some of them received the bread, thank God.”
In his complaint, investigators said Omar Adhami also sent Alzaq some $3,000 and on one occasion asked “to have a sheep or goat slaughtered for the needy and poor in Gaza.”
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement Thursday that “the NYPD’s counterterrorism work knows no boundaries. Our intelligence analysts uncovered this international financial network and built the case.”
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