The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a religious charity over alleged links to Hamas.
The regulator said it had also restricted certain financial transactions at the Al-Khair Foundation, which operates in the UK and internationally.
The Islamic charity was set up in 2003 to advance religion, promote education, support social welfare, build religious harmony and offer relief to victims of disasters.
The regulator said it received a complaint last month claiming the charity and its partners had connections to Hamas and that it had funded the proscribed terrorist organisation.
The commission said it “immediately” started examining the serious concerns raised and escalated its engagement to a statutory inquiry on 5 August.
Due to concerns of possible serious risk to charitable funds, the regulator issued a legal order restricting certain financial transactions by the charity without the commission’s prior consent.
The charity recorded an income of more than £74m in the year ending 31 July 2025.
The regulator said it is aware that Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who is employed by an organisation the Al-Khair Foundation works with to deliver aid in Gaza, had been arrested in the UK.
He has been charged by US authorities for conspiring to provide material support to Hamas.
The regulator said it would be considering all relevant information as part of its investigation, including verifying Hasna’s connection to the charity, alongside wider allegations made about the foundation.
The inquiry will seek to establish the nature and extent of the charity’s link to Hasna and whether trustees have carried out appropriate checks and due diligence on international partners.
It will also examine whether trustees are effectively monitoring the end use of funds internationally and have appropriate policies and procedures in place to protect funds from risk of misuse.
The investigation will seek to establish whether any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity are a result of misconduct or mismanagement by the trustees.
A statement from the Al-Khair Foundation said the charity was “cooperating fully” with the regulator, adding that it previously filed a serious incident report with the commission about the allegations against Hasna.
The charity said: “Our priority is always to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with our charitable objectives, humanitarian principles and all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
“Our work is strongly guided by Islamic values of compassion, integrity and service to those most in need.”
It said: “Everywhere we work we are firmly committed to ensuring that the funds entrusted to us by our generous donors are used for their intended purpose: meeting the humanitarian needs of poor and marginalised people in the communities we serve.
“In Gaza and around the world we work hard to maintain robust governance, compliance and oversight processes designed to help ensure that aid reaches its intended beneficiaries.”