Treasury blacklists Al Qa'ida and Samidoun supporters, delists Al-Nusrah Front

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added individuals and entities to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List for supporting Al Qa’ida, Hurras al-Din, Masar Badil and the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, freezing their U.S. assets and barring U.S. persons from transacting with them. In a parallel action, OFAC removed the Al-Nusrah Front and a dozen of its associates from the list. Both measures, issued on August 26, 2026, were published in the Federal Register of Monday, August 31, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 167, Notices).

The designations are taken under Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, as amended by Executive Order 13886 of September 9, 2019. Under the order, all property and interests in property of the listed persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. OFAC also flagged the listed parties for secondary sanctions risk under section 1(b) of the amended order, meaning foreign persons who deal with them may themselves face sanctions.

New designations against Al Qa’ida and Samidoun networks

In the first notice (FR Doc. 2026-17724), OFAC added two individuals and three entities to the SDN List. The individuals are:

• AL-KA’BI, Sa’d bin Sa’d Muhammad Shariyan (Qatar), designated for materially assisting Al Qa’ida;
• ZAYNIYAH, Jamal Husayn (Syria), designated for supporting Hurras al-Din.

The entities added are:

• PALESTINE ACTION (United Kingdom), a transnational terrorist group;
• AUTISTICI INVENTATI (Italy), a data-processing and hosting organization;
• MASAR BADIL (Brazil, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Spain), an advocacy organization linked to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

OFAC also added two individuals linked to Masar Badil: ABDULNASSER, Zaid (Germany) and ALSAGHEER, Rawa (Brazil), both designated as leaders or officials of the group.

Delisting of Al-Nusrah Front and its associates

In a second notice (FR Doc. 2026-17725), OFAC removed the AL-NUSRAH FRONT — also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and by numerous aliases — and a dozen of its associates from the SDN List, unblocking their property. At the same time, the agency added new individuals linked to the group, designating them for having materially assisted, sponsored or provided financial, material or technological support to the organization.

Compliance and impact

The actions affect international finance and compliance, as financial institutions and U.S. persons must screen against the updated SDN List and freeze any assets of the newly designated parties. OFAC’s sanctions programs and the full list are available on its website, and the agency’s licensing and compliance offices can be reached for guidance.

For banks, compliance officers and international businesses, the notices underscore the need to update sanctions screening lists promptly, as dealings with any newly designated person can expose firms to penalties and secondary sanctions risk.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 167, Monday, August 31, 2026, Notices, p. 55979–55981 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026-17724 and FR Doc. 2026-17725).