Make New York Post a Preferred Source An alleged Hamas member who purportedly raised nearly $2 million for the terror group under the guise of humanitarian aid for ailing kids in Gaza bragged about his “friends” in New York, new court papers claim.
Saleem Alzaq, who works in Hamas’ “media office,” boasted that he had “so many” friends in the Big Apple in a 2025 exchange with an undercover NYPD agent over Snapchat, federal prosecutors alleged.
“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,” Alzaq allegedly told the officer, who had asked how he could contribute.
Saleem Alzaq, believed to be in Gaza and still at large, is the alleged ringleader of the scheme. Manhattan US Attorney's Office “Let me see my friends in New York, and they are all from Palestine, from the West Bank and from Jerusalem, and they are American, all of them; they are young people and they send me all the time,” he said, according to the court docs.
The 45-year-old alleged Hamas mouthpiece, who is believed to still be at-large in Gaza, was indicted on Thursday in Manhattan federal court on charges of funneling $1.7 million to Hamas in “donations” he claimed would be earmarked for humanitarian aid.
Court papers do not reveal what Hamas did with the money, or if the cash was used in any terror plots.
Alzaq’s alleged chat with an NYPD undercover using the name “Hussain” was revealed in a separate but related federal complaint unsealed in Louisiana court earlier this week.
Abdel Adhami and his sibling Omar Adhami were arrested in the Pelican State for allegedly funneling cash to Alzaq. Abdel allegedly funneled more than $83,000 to Hamas from 2023 to 2026 while his brother is accused of sending $6,000.
A Florida man, Raed Yousef, was separately charged with funneling nearly $50,000 to Hamas, while three more of Alzaq’s alleged associates — Faouzi Barika, Amel Oualid and Nordine Barika, were arrested in France by the French General Directorate for Internal Security, according to US officials.
No one based in New York has been charged in the case to date.
“This office and our law enforcement partners will root out and prosecute those who finance Hamas, no matter where they are located,” said Manhattan US Attorney Jamie McDonald in a statement.
The purported fundraising plot raised nearly $2 million for Hamas, US officials say. Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images The Adhami brothers allegedly used code words to avoid detection including the term “bread” when referring to Hamas fighters and funding.
“This is the message I wanted to deliver to the person who donated the bread,” Alzaq said to Adbel via Snapchat in January 2024, the court documents state.
“Some of them received the bread, thanks be to god,” Alzaq allegedly continued.
Alzaq, who frequently posted pro-Hamas content on his social media, also allegedly instructed his followers not to write “Free Palestine” or “Long Live Hamas” on their donations so that his PayPal account was not canceled, according to prosecutors.
Manhattan federal prosecutors claimed in the indictment that the slogan “Free Palestine” was a reference to “Hamas’ explicit goal of destroying the state of Israel and establishing an Arab-Muslim state in its place under Sharia law.”
Lawyers listed as repping the Adhami brothers did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment. The Post was unable to immediately verify which attorneys, if any, were representing the other members of the alleged scheme.
