Trump Admin Sanctions Flotilla Activists, Baselessly Claims Ties to Hamas

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned four Gaza flotilla activists, baselessly smearing them as part of “Hamas support networks.”

The four activists — Saif Abukeshek, Jaldia Aueda, Hisham Abu Mahfuz, and Mohammed Khatib — are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s siege of Gaza in order to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The Global Sumud Flotilla is organized by the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which the Department of the Treasury also sanctioned in January 2026.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of the Treasury claimed that it is “taking action” against individuals “associated with the pro-Hamas flotilla.” It said that the flotilla is “attempting to access Gaza in support of Hamas.”

The statement quoted Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who called the flotilla “pro-terror” and its attempt to break Israel’s siege of Gaza “a ludicrous attempt to undermine President Trump’s successful progress toward lasting peace in the region.” Bessent claimed the sanctions were part of the treasury’s work to “sever Hamas’ global financial support networks.”

In the same statement, the U.S. Treasury announced additional sanctions on unrelated groups and individuals based in Egypt, and on the Palestinian Scholars Association in Gaza. It claimed — without evidence — that each of these groups are connected to Hamas, a refrain frequently parroted by Israel and its allies to silence all opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

The decision comes as Israel intercepted the last of 50 boats on the latest flotilla headed to Gaza on Tuesday. Israel once again raided the vessels in international waters, and opened fire on at least two of them before kidnapping the activists on board.

The flotilla has aimed to keep global attention on Gaza after the “ceasefire” engineered by Trump went into effect in October 2025. Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, killing at least 850 Palestinians in the enclave since it was enacted and continuing to deprive Palestinians of desperately needed resources.

Saif Abukeshek, one of the four activists sanctioned on Tuesday, was abducted by Israeli forces in international waters last month while sailing with the Global Sumud Flotilla. After raiding the boats near the island of Crete, Israeli forces released the majority of the activists in Greece, but took Saif Abukeshek and fellow activist Thiago Avila to Israel, where they were detained and interrogated for a week before being deported.

“I am a human rights defender,” Abukeshek said in an interview after his release. “And [Israel] want[s] to criminalize solidarity work.”

Abukeshek recounted one of the Israelis who interrogated him saying that the solidarity flotilla “is more dangerous” than those who are “throwing bombs” at Israel.

“They consider this more dangerous because we tell people about what’s happening, we create awareness,” Abukeshek said. “People start asking questions, why civilians are sailing through the Mediterranean to reach Gaza. Why there is no humanitarian aid entering Gaza and asking these questions make it complicated for them. Because they cannot justify it.”

The Trump administration’s sanctioning of flotilla organizers is only the latest in its pattern of imposing sanctions on human rights lawyers, activists, and organizations working to end the genocide in Gaza. Others sanctioned by the U.S. have spoken of the debilitating effects of the sanctions, even outside of the U.S. Judges of the International Criminal Court, for example, have said that Trump’s sanctions left them “wiped out economically and socially.”