The United States sanctioned a senior UK-based Muslim Brotherhood official and six other individuals and entities on July 23 for allegedly funneling money to Hamas, widening a policy gap between Washington and London.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control identified Mahmoud al-Abyari as the UK-based secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood General Secretariat. OFAC said al-Abyari helped raise funds for two previously sanctioned organizations — Filistin Vakfi and Hayat Yolu — both accused of Hamas ties, and worked with MB groups to provide financial support to the militant group.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on July 23 that the action exposes MB affiliates and what he called "Hamas-directed front organizations that use charitable facades and underground networks to disguise and move funds in support of terrorism."
Two charities were also designated: Indonesia-based Tujah Bulah Global and Gaza-based Madad Palestine Charitable Society. A Turkey-based money exchange, El-Kahira for General Trading, rounded out the list. Treasury said the firm transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas and separately provided underground banking services to organized crime groups in Sweden.
OFAC also designated three men connected to El-Kahira: owner Khuldun Khamis Zakaria Alden and shareholders Zaid Issam Ahmed Al-Jebouri and Abdullah Issam Ahmad Al-Jebouri.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration "will relentlessly pursue terrorists and those who finance them," adding that those who enable Hamas "will be exposed, sanctioned, and held accountable."
The sanctions freeze any US property or interests controlled by US persons belonging to the designated individuals and entities. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions on their behalf now face potential secondary sanctions.
The measures build on designations announced in January and March targeting Hamas financial facilitators, operatives, and MB-linked charities. Pigott said Washington is "committed to dismantling the financial infrastructure that sustains Hamas and the MB."
The action underscores a sharp divergence between Washington and London. The Treasury designated the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches of the MB as specially designated global terrorists in January for providing material support to Hamas. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain have designated the MB a terrorist organization, and Jordan outlawed the movement in 2025.
The UK has not proscribed the organization. A 2015 UK review concluded that membership in, association with, or influence by the MB should be regarded as "a possible indicator of extremism" — but said those factors alone were not sufficient to justify legal action. Downing Street found that parts of the movement had used or supported violence in some countries but stopped short of recommending a ban.
This is a UK problem first and foremost, and we are not dealing with it in anything like the seriousness that the United States is, and that's a major problem.
Former UK Commissioner for Countering Extremism Robin Simcox, speaking during a Foundation for Defense of Democracies program on July 17, said the British government, police, and security services have not treated the MB as a sufficiently high priority compared with other threats. He called that approach "a massive strategic mistake" and said he hopes the latest US measures will push the UK to revisit the issue.
The Epoch Times reached out to the UK Home Office for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The question now is whether Washington's aggressive posture forces London's hand — or whether Britain keeps treating the Brotherhood as a nuisance rather than a threat.