U.s. Government Analysis Found No Evidence Of Massive Hamas Theft Of Gaza Aid

WASHINGTON — An soul U.S. authorities study recovered no grounds of systematic theft by nan Palestinian militant group Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging nan main rationale that Israel and nan U.S. springiness for backing a caller equipped backstage assistance operation.

The analysis, which has not been antecedently reported, was conducted by a bureau wrong nan U.S. Agency for International Development and completed successful precocious June. It examined 156 incidents of theft aliases nonaccomplishment of U.S.-funded supplies reported by U.S. assistance partner organizations betwixt October 2023 and this May.

It recovered “no reports alleging Hamas” benefited from U.S.-funded supplies, according to a descent position of nan findings seen by Reuters.

A State Department spokesperson disputed nan findings, saying location is video grounds of Hamas looting aid, but provided nary specified videos. The spokesperson besides accused accepted humanitarian groups of covering up “aid corruption.”

Somoud Wahdan looks astatine nan camera arsenic she sits pinch her kid successful an area successful nan bluish Gaza Strip, while waiting for trucks pinch humanitarian assistance to arrive, successful Gaza City, connected Friday.Abdel Kareem Hana / AP

A White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, questioned nan beingness of nan analysis, saying nary State Department charismatic had seen it and that it “was apt produced by a heavy authorities operative” seeking to discredit President Donald Trump’s “humanitarian agenda.”

The findings were shared pinch nan USAID’s inspector general’s agency and State Department officials progressive successful Middle East policy, said 2 sources acquainted pinch nan matter, and travel arsenic dire nutrient shortages deepen successful nan devastated enclave.

Israel says it is committed to allowing successful aid but must power it to forestall it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for nan crisis.

The U.N. World Food Program says nearly a 4th of Gaza’s 2.1 cardinal Palestinians look famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and nan World Health Organization and doctors successful nan enclave study starvation deaths of children and others.

The U.N. besides estimates that Israeli forces person killed much than 1,000 group seeking nutrient supplies, the mostly adjacent nan militarized distribution sites of nan Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), nan caller backstage assistance group that uses a for-profit U.S. logistics patient tally by a erstwhile CIA serviceman and equipped U.S. subject veterans.

The study was conducted by nan Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of USAID, which was nan largest funder of assistance to Gaza earlier nan Trump management froze each U.S. overseas assistance successful January, terminating thousands of programs. It has besides begun dismantling USAID, whose functions person been folded into nan State Department.

The study recovered that astatine slightest 44 of nan 156 incidents wherever assistance supplies were reported stolen aliases mislaid were “either straight aliases indirectly” due to Israeli subject actions, according to nan briefing slides.

Israel’s subject did not respond to questions astir those findings.

Displaced Palestinians person lentil crockery astatine a nutrient distribution constituent successful Gaza City connected Friday. Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP via Getty Images

The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who person assistance cannot beryllium vetted, it was imaginable that U.S.-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, nan Islamist rulers of Gaza.

One root acquainted pinch nan study besides cautioned that nan absence of reports of wide assistance diversion by Hamas “does not mean that diversion has not occurred.”

The warfare successful Gaza began aft Hamas attacked Israel successful October 2023, sidesplitting 1,200 group and capturing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Nearly 60,000 Palestinians person been killed since nan Israeli battle began, according to Palestinian wellness officials.

Israel says Hamas diverts assistance

Israel, which controls entree to Gaza, has said that Hamas steals nutrient supplies from U.N. and different organizations to usage to power nan civilian organization and boost its finances, including by jacking up nan prices of nan equipment and reselling them to civilians.

Asked astir nan USAID report, nan Israeli subject told Reuters that its allegations are based connected intelligence reports that Hamas militants seized cargoes by “both covertly and overtly” embedding themselves connected assistance trucks.

Those reports besides show that Hamas has diverted up to 25% of assistance supplies to its fighters aliases sold them to civilians, nan Israeli subject said, adding that GHF has ended nan militants’ power of assistance by distributing it straight to civilians.

Hamas denies nan allegations. A Hamas information charismatic said that Israel has killed much than 800 Hamas-affiliated constabulary and information guards trying to protect assistance vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated pinch nan U.N.

Reuters could not independently verify nan claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made nationalist impervious that nan militants person systematically stolen aid.

GHF besides accuses Hamas of monolithic assistance theft successful defending its distribution model. The U.N. and different groups person rejected calls by GHF, Israel and nan U.S. to cooperate pinch nan foundation, saying it violates world humanitarian principles of neutrality.

In consequence to a petition for comment, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials arsenic saying Hamas profited from nan income and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid.

Aid groups required to study losses

The 156 reports of theft aliases losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were revenge by U.N. agencies and different humanitarian groups moving successful Gaza arsenic a information of receiving U.S. assistance funds.

The 2nd root acquainted pinch nan matter said that aft receiving reports of U.S.-funded assistance thefts aliases losses, USAID unit followed up pinch partner organizations to effort to find if location was Hamas involvement.

Those organizations besides would “redirect aliases pause” assistance distributions if they learned that Hamas was successful nan vicinity, nan root said.

Aid organizations moving successful Gaza besides are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups earlier receiving U.S. funds, a information that nan State Department waived successful approving $30 cardinal for GHF past month.

The descent position noted that USAID partners tended to over-report assistance diversion and theft by groups sanctioned aliases designated by nan U.S. arsenic overseas violent organizations — specified arsenic Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — because they want to debar losing U.S. funding.

Of nan 156 incidents of nonaccomplishment aliases theft reported, 63 were attributed to chartless perpetrators, 35 to equipped actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 straight to Israeli subject action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, 5 to assistance group unit “engaging successful corrupt activities,” and six to “others,” a class that accounted for “commodities stolen successful chartless circumstances,” according to nan descent presentation.

The equipped actors “included gangs and different various individuals who whitethorn person had weapons,” said a slide. Another descent said “a reappraisal of each 156 incidents recovered nary affiliations with” U.S.-designated overseas violent organizations, of which Hamas is one.

“The mostly of incidents could not beryllium definitively attributed to a circumstantial actor,” said different slide. “Partners often mostly discovered nan commodities had been stolen successful transit without identifying nan perpetrator.”

It is imaginable location were classified intelligence reports connected Hamas assistance thefts, but BHA unit mislaid entree to classified systems successful nan dismantlement of USAID, said a slide.

However, a root acquainted pinch U.S. intelligence assessments told Reuters that they knew of nary U.S. intelligence reports detailing Hamas assistance diversions and that Washington was relying connected Israeli reports.

The BHA study recovered that nan Israeli subject “directly aliases indirectly caused” a full of 44 incidents successful which U.S.-funded assistance was mislaid aliases stolen. Those included nan 11 attributed to nonstop Israeli subject actions, specified arsenic airstrikes aliases orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of nan war-torn enclave.

Losses indirectly attributed to Israeli subject included cases wherever they compelled assistance groups to usage transportation routes pinch precocious risks of theft aliases looting, ignoring requests for replacement routes, nan study said.