Union of Good

In 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Union of Good as an organization created by the leaders of Hamas under Executive Order 13224. ⁴ In 2025, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands for its membership in the Union of Good and material support for Hamas. ⁵

Hamas Funding Through Affiliated Organizations

Gaza and West Bank Affiliates

According to a February 2005 report from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (CSS), Union of Good divided the disputed Palestinian territories into four administrative districts to maximize its efficiency in transferring funds through its member organizations to Hamas and its affiliates. In three districts—the North West Bank, Center West Bank, and South West Bank—the Union consolidated its affiliation with a designated organization serving as coordinator for local Hamas institutions. Al-Tadhamoun, a Hamas fundraiser based in Nablus, became the coordinating organization in the North West Bank, while Al-Islah, in Ramallah, became its Hamas partner in the Central West Bank, and Hebron’s Islamic Charitable Society became its Southern district partner. The Union of Good operates as an independent Hamas fundraiser directly in Gaza. ³

United Nations Connection

The Qatar Charity and the Eid Charity are members of the Union of Good. ⁶ In 2022, United Nations reports revealed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has accepted nearly $50 million from these two Union of Good member charities since 2012. ⁶

2011 House Testimony on Hamas Funding

In 2011, then-U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary Daniel L. Glaser testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, during which he outlined the network of Hamas affiliates the Union of Good used to funnel funds to the terrorist organization. Glaser claimed this Union network included the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP-France), the Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP-Switzerland), the Palestinian Association in Austria (PVOE-Austria) and the Sanabil Association for Relief and Development (Lebanon). ²

2025 Report on Hamas Fundraising in South Africa

In 2025, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) released a report on Hamas fundraising efforts in South Africa that showed connections to the Union of Good. The report revealed that Ebrahim Gabriels, the director of the Al-Quds Foundation South Africa (AQFSA), served on the board of the Union of Good and was previously president of the Muslim Judicial Council, another member of the Union of Good. ⁷

The FDD report also uncovered that Imtiaz Sooliman, who was appointed to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue, is the founder and director of Gift of the Givers, a member organization of the Union of Good beginning in November 2002. In 1991, before founding Gift of the Givers, Sooliman founded the South Africa branch of the Al-Aqsa Foundation, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2003. ⁷

Terrorism Penalties

2008 Designation

In November 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Union of Good under Executive Order 13224, a category that “targets terrorists, terrorist organizations, and those providing financial, technological, or material support to terrorists, terrorist organizations, or acts of terrorism.” Pursuant to the executive order, any assets the Union of Good held under United States jurisdiction were immediately frozen and United States citizens were prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the Union. The U.S. Department of the Treasury designation order asserted that “[t]he leadership of Hamas created the Union of Good in late-2000, shortly after the start of the second Intifada, in order to facilitate the transfer of funds to Hamas.” It accused the Union of Good of acting “as a broker for Hamas by facilitating financial transfers between a web of charitable organizations” and “Hamas-controlled organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.” ⁴

2025 Sanctions

In June 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on what it called “five individuals and five sham charities located abroad that are prominent financial supporters of Hamas’s Military Wing and its terrorist activities.” Included in the list of sanctioned organizations was the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands (Israa Foundation) which the Department of Treasury press release labeled as a member of the Union of Good. According to the Treasury’s statement, Amin Ghazi Abu Rashed, a representative of the Israa Foundation and a top Hamas operative in Europe, was “responsible for raising millions of U.S. dollars in funds for Hamas by using sham charities as a cover.”  The Treasury also accused Israa Foundation representative and Hamas operative Israa Abou Rashed of leading campaigns on behalf of the Israa Foundation to raise and divert funds to Hamas. ⁵

Yusuf Al-Qaradawi

Yusuf Al-Qaradawi was a founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Union of Good. ³ He was a prominent Sunni Islamic scholar associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi was known for his militant religious rulings and political commentary in support of acts of terrorism against the state of Israel. He is the former host of one of Al Jazeera’s most popular shows, “Shariah and Life,” which helped him rise to prominence across the Muslim world. Al-Qaradawi also served as chairman of the board of trustees at the Islamic American University, a subsidiary of the Muslim American Society. ⁸

During his life, Al-Qaradawi advocated a Muslim takeover of Europe and America by sharia law and issued several fatwas, or religious decrees, condoning suicide bombings against Israelis. In 1995, at a Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) conference in Toledo, Ohio, Al-Qaradawi expressed support for “[o]ur brothers in Hamas, in Palestine, the Islamic resistance, the Islamic Jihad,” who he claimed have continued “the movement of the Jihad” which “brings us back to our faith.” At the same conference, Al-Qaradawi condoned violence against Jews, sharing the following passage from the Hadith of Ibn-Omar and the Hadith of Abu-Hurairah with the crowd: “You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone and the tree, and the stone and the tree will say: ‘Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, this is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!’ The resurrection will not come before this happens.” ⁸

During a 2009 televised sermon, Al-Qaradawi further advocated violence against Jews, stating, “I will shoot Allah’s enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus I will seal my life with martyrdom.” ⁹

Al-Qaradawi also expressed support for marital abuse against women and female genital mutilation, and argued that Muslims killed in combat against American soldiers are martyrs. Some still considered Al-Qaradaqi a moderate Islamist for his opposition to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. ⁸ He died in 2022. ¹⁰