The Aporia · Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds

Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds

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Kochman, B. (2026, October 2). Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/02/us-news/leader-of-1-7m-hamas-fundraising-scheme-bragged-about-friends-in-ny-feds/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Saleem Alzaq, a 45-year-old Hamas media official, is accused by federal prosecutors of raising $1.7 million for Hamas through donations claimed as humanitarian aid. In undercover communications revealed in court documents, Alzaq boasted about having many friends in New York who were contributing to his fundraising efforts. He allegedly used coded language such as referring to Hamas fighters and funding as "bread" to avoid detection. While several individuals have been arrested or charged in relation to the case in different states and countries, no one from New York has faced charges yet.

Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Saleem Alzaq, a 45-year-old alleged Hamas member from Gaza, was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges related to funneling $1.7 million to Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza between January 2020 and December 2025. The indictment alleges that Alzaq and his co-conspirators raised funds internationally, including at least $626,000 from U.S.-based donors, by soliciting donations through social media campaigns purportedly aimed at providing food and winter necessities.

Two brothers from Louisiana, Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami, were arrested last month for their roles in the scheme. Abdel is accused of sending over $83,000 to Hamas between 2023 and 2026 while Omar allegedly sent $6,000. The brothers are charged with material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to violate sanctions, money laundering, and defrauding the United States.

The NYPD assisted in bringing down the operation after an undercover detective contacted Alzaq on social media. Additionally, three individuals from France were arrested for helping collect and transfer funds through purported charitable campaigns. French authorities also sanctioned two charities allegedly tied to Hamas financing, while the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Saleem Alzaq and others involved in the network.

Written for “Hamas Fundraising Scheme Exposed” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 44% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas Same event

NBC News

Hedges 8 of 20 claims Outlet record 78/100

'Washed-up fashion photographer' turned teacher faces probe over claims he praised Hamas leader in woke Brooklyn group chat Different event

Daily Mail

⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 8 of 23 claims Outlet record 69/100

“The articles describe different incidents involving separate individuals: Saleem Alzaq in a Hamas fundraising scheme and Damien Neva allegedly praising a Hamas leader in a group chat.”

Americans donated money to Hamas in scheme that raised $1.7 million, prosecutors allege Different event

CBS News

⚖️ Centre further left than this Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 65/100

“Article A discusses the overall scheme of funneling humanitarian aid donations to Hamas, while Article B focuses on a specific exchange involving Saleem Alzaq bragging about his connections in New York.”

Man helped raise $1.7 million for Hamas funding scheme disguised as Gaza aid: DOJ Different event

Washington Examiner

Hedges 9 of 30 claims Outlet record 69/100

“The articles describe different parts of a larger scheme, with Article A focusing on Saleem Alzaq's bragging about friends in New York, while Article B discusses Raed Yousef's involvement in raising funds for Hamas from Florida.”

US sanctions three individuals and two charities over alleged Hamas financing Different event

The Guardian

Hedges 5 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100

“While both articles discuss Hamas financing, Article A focuses on a specific exchange between Saleem Alzaq and an undercover agent, while Article B describes broader sanctions and arrests related to Hamas financing.”

$1.7 million raised in scheme for Hamas, including from U.S. donors, feds say Different event

CBS News

⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 12 of 23 claims Outlet record 65/100

“While both articles discuss Saleem Alzaq's alleged Hamas fundraising scheme, Article A focuses on the total amount raised and charges filed by federal prosecutors, while Article B highlights a specific boast made by Alzaq to an undercover agent about having friends in New York who contribute. These are different aspects of related but separate incidents.”

Two US brothers busted in $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme — that was exposed with help from the NYPD Different event

New York Post

⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 5 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100

“While both articles discuss aspects of a Hamas fundraising scheme involving Abdel Adhami, Omar Adhami, and Saleem Alzaq, Article A focuses on the arrest and indictment of the brothers, while Article B highlights statements made by Alzaq to an undercover NYPD agent. These appear to be different parts of the same broader investigation but do not describe the exact same specific incident.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

44%

8 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly right

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16741 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Ben Kochman

8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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🔮 “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.

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 8 articles by Ben Kochman →

Topics

Hamas Manhattan NYPD New York Snapchat

Subjects

Hamas ORG · 10× Alzaq PERSON · 7× New York GPE · 4× Manhattan GPE · 3× Adhami PERSON · 2× NYPD ORG · 2× Ohio GPE · 1× Saleem Alzaq PERSON · 1× Snapchat ORG · 1× the Big Apple GPE · 1×

Narrative

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.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02

2026-10-02 · New York Post

Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds · mixed framing

Claims (18 extracted, 8 hedged)

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. asserted

prosecutors → work → Snapchat

“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. uncertain

he → tell → officer

“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. uncertain

he → let → docs

he → believe → aid

Court papers do not reveal what Hamas did with the money, or if the cash was used in any terror plots. asserted

cash → reveal → 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. asserted

chat → allege → court

Abdel Adhami and his sibling Omar Adhami were arrested in the Pelican State for allegedly funneling cash to Alzaq. uncertain

Adhami → arrest → Alzaq

Abdel allegedly funneled more than $83,000 to Hamas from 2023 to 2026 while his brother is accused of sending $6,000. uncertain

brother → funnel → 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. uncertain

three → charge → officials

No one based in New York has been charged in the case to date. asserted

one → base → 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. asserted

McDonald → root → statement

The Adhami brothers allegedly used code words to avoid detection including the term “bread” when referring to Hamas fighters and funding. uncertain

brothers → use → fighters

“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. asserted

documents → want → January

“Some of them received the bread, thanks be to god,” Alzaq allegedly continued. uncertain

Alzaq → receive → god

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. uncertain

account → post → 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.” asserted

slogan → claim → law

Lawyers listed as repping the Adhami brothers did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment. asserted

Lawyers → list → comment

The Post was unable to immediately verify which attorneys, if any, were representing the other members of the alleged scheme. asserted

attorneys → verify → scheme