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

Read the original at CBS News ↗
CBS News · collected 2026-10-02

Quick Summary

Prosecutors have alleged that some American donors gave money intended for humanitarian aid following the October 7, 2023, attacks, which was then redirected to the terrorist organization Hamas. The scheme reportedly raised $1.7 million. This information comes from a report by CBS News' Anna Schecter.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-02, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

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 2026-10-05, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
2
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 2 hedged
Leaning
Centre
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
65.5
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
7
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Hamas Fundraising Scheme Exposed
Politics · 7 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads centre and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 52% hedged 12 of 23 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the same fundraising scheme involving U.S. donors and $1.7 million raised for Hamas, based on an indictment unsealed on the same date.”
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 40% hedged 8 of 20 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe the same federal indictment involving Saleem Alzaq and others for funneling $1.7 million to Hamas from donors who believed they were giving humanitarian aid.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 44% hedged 8 of 18 📰 publisher trust 64
“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.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 22% hedged 5 of 23 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes donations to Hamas from U.S. donors, while Article B discusses sanctions and arrests related to a financing network for Hamas.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 30% hedged 9 of 30 📰 publisher trust 72
“While both articles discuss the same general scheme of fundraising for Hamas, Article B specifies an indictment and arrest of a Florida man and two others, focusing on a particular set of individuals involved in the larger scheme described in Article A.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 29% hedged 5 of 17 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A focuses on the arrest and indictment of two brothers for a Hamas fundraising scheme involving over $83,000, while Article B broadly mentions that some U.S. donors contributed money to Hamas after Oct. 2023 attacks.”

Publisher

CBS News · 1975 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article.

Topics

CBS News' Hamas U.S.

Subjects

Anna Schecter PERSON · 1× CBS News' ORG · 1× Hamas ORG · 1× U.S. GPE · 1×

Narrative

Some donors in the U.S. contributed money for humanitarian aid after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that was later funneled to the terrorist group Hamas, prosecutors say.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02

Claims (2 extracted, 0 hedged)

Some donors in the U.S. contributed money for humanitarian aid after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that was later funneled to the terrorist group Hamas, prosecutors say. asserted
prosecutors → contribute → group
CBS News' Anna Schecter reports. asserted
Schecter → report → ?
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