Treasury Extends Its Muslim Brotherhood Campaign to Europe

July 24, 2026 | Policy Brief Treasury Extends Its Muslim Brotherhood Campaign to Europe July 24, 2026 | Policy Brief Treasury Extends Its Muslim Brotherhood Campaign to Europe Pressure is ratcheting up on the Muslim Brotherhood. Months after targeting several of the Islamist organization’s chapters, Washington is now taking the fight to the group’s support infrastructure in the United Kingdom. On July 23, the Department of the Treasury announced the designation of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahmoud al-Abyari for acting on behalf of a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood branch. Al-Abyari was also targeted for fundraising for Hamas through previously sanctioned organizations. The London-based Egyptian national serves as secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood’s General Secretariat and is the editor-in-chief of Risalat al-Ikhwan, the organization’s weekly publication. The designation signals that Washington intends to continue dismantling the Brotherhood’s international support network by targeting not only regional chapters, but also the senior officials, financiers, and facilitators who sustain the movement. Treasury Looks Beyond the Middle East According to the designation, al-Abyari helped raise funds benefiting Hamas through Filistin Vakfi and Hayat Yolu, two organizations previously sanctioned for providing material support to the terrorist group. Alongside al-Abyari, Treasury designated three individuals and three entities for providing material support to Hamas. Al-Abyari’s role in these fundraising efforts demonstrates how the Brotherhood’s international infrastructure is connected to Hamas’s financial networks. Brotherhood officials have long sought to distinguish between the movement from Hamas. They have also worked to put distance between the movement’s various chapters, branches, and offshoots, allowing each to operate autonomously and adapt to different political circumstances. Treasury’s action undercuts both efforts, highlighting the continued overlap in their leadership, ideology, and support structures. Europe Remains a Brotherhood Safe Haven These designations spotlight the enduring importance of European capitals, London chief among them, to the Brotherhood’s international operations. Since the organization’s removal from power in Egypt in 2013, many senior leaders have relocated to the United Kingdom and other countries across the continent. There they have rebuilt command structures, coordinated media operations, raised funds, and managed relationships with affiliated organizations across the Middle East. Operating from the West has afforded Brotherhood leaders legal protections and financial access that would be difficult to obtain in the Middle East, where the organization has been largely banned. Although European governments have devoted increasing attention to Islamism, enforcement has often focused on violent actors while overlooking the broader ecosystem of charities, advocacy organizations, media outlets, and financial facilitators that sustain Islamist movements over the long term. Washington Should Continue Targeting Brotherhood Leaders Al-Abyari should not be the last Brotherhood official designated by Treasury. The United States should continue identifying the group’s senior leaders, like Acting-General Guide Saleh Abdel Haq and Spokesperson Osama Suleiman, operating from London and elsewhere in Europe who facilitate fundraising, coordination, or financial support. Treasury should also continue mapping the Brotherhood’s international financial architecture, including charities, front organizations, businesses, and facilitators that enable the movement to move money and sustain its overseas operations. Where evidence supports such action, these entities should face sanctions alongside the individuals directing them. Finally, Washington should deepen coordination with British authorities on Brotherhood financial networks operating within the United Kingdom. As Treasury has demonstrated, disrupting the facilitators who sustain Hamas and the Brotherhood’s international apparatus can impose costs well beyond the battlefield. Continued pressure on these overseas networks will make it increasingly difficult for the Brotherhood to exploit London and other European capitals as permissive hubs for fundraising, coordination, and global influence. Mariam Wahba is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Mariam and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Mariam on X @themariamwahba. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.