US sanctions Palestinian media group Gaza Now, including its crypto wallets

The US Department of the Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Palestinian news network Gaza Now on March 27 over allegations of supporting Hamas.

The Treasury sanctions also designate several crypto addresses linked to Gaza Now and its related parties.

The Treasury designated an empty Bitcoin address and two Ethereum addresses holding more than $2,690 in ETH and other tokens. It also designated five USDT addresses holding more than $10,350, though only two addresses appeared to contain funds.

One of the USDT addresses was linked to Gaza Now founder Mustafa Ayash.

The Treasury also sanctioned Qureshi Executives, Aakhirah Limited, and their director, Aozma Sultana. It did not designate crypto addresses related to Sultana or either company.

Gaza Now aided Hamas fundraising

The Treasury said that it imposed the sanctions because Gaza Now allegedly supported Hamas’ fundraising efforts following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against Israel. Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Limited, in turn, supported Gaza Now financially and through advertising.

Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said:

“Treasury remains committed to degrading Hamas’ ability to finance its terrorist activities.”

The Treasury imposed those sanctions in a joint effort with the UK, which separately stated that it had performed a full asset freeze. In both countries, individuals and entities cannot do business with the sanctioned parties, and transactions involving their assets are generally prohibited.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic publicly reported in October 2023 that Gaza Now received $21,000 in crypto following the attacks, including $2,000 frozen by exchanges and $9,000 in USDT frozen by Tether.

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