The US has officially sanctioned UK-based Palestine activist and alleged senior Hamas member Zaher Birawi due to his role in assisting and supporting a group with ties to Hamas.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last week that it has officially designated both Birawi and the organization, The Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which Birawi founded and is in the General Secretariat of.
The OFAC stated that PCPA is being sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, directed by, or for having acted on behalf of Hamas. Birawi is sanctioned for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for the PCPA.
While OFAC assured that members of the Palestinian diaspora have a right to gather and advocate for their legitimate political concerns, this right does not extend to support for Hamas, which "through their insidious strategy of hiding behind civilians while using terrorism to attempt to achieve political aims, both in Gaza and abroad, puts innocent lives at risk."
Going forward, all property and interests in property of Birawi and the PCPA are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.
Birawi designated a terrorist by Israel in 2013
Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center stated as early as 2010 that Birawi was a Hamas activist operating in Europe, and he was designated as a terrorist by Israel in 2013.
Birawi runs the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) and gained attention in 2025 for being a key organizer behind the Gaza-bound aid flotilla Madleen, which carried Greta Thunberg.
In September of 2025, Israel uncovered documents in Gaza that illustrated direct Hamas involvement in organizing and financing the flotilla. One of the documents contained a detailed list of Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) activists directly involved in the flotilla operations. In that dossier, Birawi was referred to as the head of the PCPA’s Hamas sector in Britain.
The Jerusalem Post found four mentions of Birawi on Hamas’s Telegram channel. Two related to the flotilla in 2025. The other two involved Birawi talking to Hamas’s Al Aqsa TV directly.
On November 19, 2021, he told Al Aqsa TV that “Palestine has the right to resist Zionist occupation” and “Hamas is the largest Palestinian political party that won the elections. Britain will soon be forced to apologize for its decision against Hamas.”
It was reported in December 2025 that the UK government was also considering sanctioning Biraw. MP Nick Timothy submitted a question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer this week regarding whether the UK is still considering such a move.