The U.S. is targeting Hamas’ covert support network, including six Gaza-based nonprofits that purportedly masquerade as medical charities while supporting the Palestinian group’s militant wing. 

In a statement published Wednesday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the new raft of sanctions is aimed at exposing Hamas’ use of civilian-facing organizations that raise funds from international donors and divert assistance intended for Palestinians. 

The agency identified the six Gaza-based entities as Waed Society Gaza, Al-Nur Society Gaza, Qawafil Society Gaza, Al-Falah Society Gaza, Merciful Hands Gaza, and Al-Salameh Society Gaza, saying they are organized by and integrated into Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

“Members of Hamas’s internal security forces are formally assigned to work in these so-called charities, specifically the Waed Society and Al-Salameh,” the agency said in a statement. “Documentary evidence captured from Hamas also shows that Hamas provides its fighters with detailed instructions on how they must navigate the group’s own bureaucracy to formally request their affiliated organizations provide their fighters with specific projects and services.”

Treasury said documentary evidence taken from Hamas offices after Oct. 7, 2023 underpinned the designations.

OFAC also sanctioned the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which it described as a Hamas front involved in organizing flotillas seeking to break Israel’s security cordon around Gaza, and designated Zaher Khaled Hassan Birawi, a U.K.-based senior PCPA official, for providing support to the group. 

Read more from the U.S. Treasury Department here