WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) – Internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by Hamas, a Palestinian extremist group of US-funded humanitarian supplies.
The previously unreported analysis was conducted by a department within the US Organization for International Development and was completed in late June. We investigated 156 cases of US-funded supply reported by US aid partner organizations between October and May 2023.
A slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters found that “no report claims Hamas” benefited from US-funded supplies.
A State Department spokesman said there was video evidence that Hamas was looting and he did not provide such a video. The spokesman also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up “assisting corruption.”
White House spokesman Anna Kelly questioned the existence of the analysis, saying that State Department officials had never seen it and “produced by deep state operatives” who tried to trust President Donald Trump’s “humanitarian agenda.”
The findings were shared with USAID inspector’s office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, and said two sources familiar with the issue and deepened the disastrous food shortages in the devastated enclave.
Israel says it is working to grant aid, but it must be controlled to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas.
The UN World Food Programme says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians are facing a hunger-like situation, with thousands suffering from acute malnutrition, and the World Health Organization and doctors report starvation deaths in children and others.
The United Nations also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people in search of food supplies. This killed most of the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new civil aid organization that uses a for-profit US logistics company run by former CIA officers and armed US military veterans.
The study was conducted by the USAID Humanitarian Aid Agency (BHA), the largest funder of support to Gaza, before the Trump administration froze all foreign aid in the United States in January. We have also begun to dismantle the USAID, whose functions are folded into the State Department.
The analysis found that of the 156 cases where aid supplies were reported to have been stolen or lost, at least 44 were “directly or indirectly” due to Israeli military action.
Israeli military did not answer questions about these findings.
This study focused on limitations. As Palestinians who receive assistance cannot be examined, it is possible that US-funded supplies have been sent to Hamas, the Muslim ruler of Gaza.
Sources familiar with the study also warned that the lack of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas “doesn’t mean that there has been no appropriation.”
According to Israeli tally, the war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages. Palestinian health officials say that around 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli attack began.
Israel says Hamas will distract humanitarian assistance
Israel, which controls access to Gaza, says Hamas will use it to promote its finances, including stealing food from the United Nations and other organizations, controlling civilians, jacking the prices of the goods and reselling them to civilians.
Asked about the USAID report, Israeli military told Reuters that the allegations were based on an intelligence report that Hamas militants seized cargo by embedding themselves in aid trucks “secretly and openly.”
These reports also show Hamas diverted up to 25% of its aid supply to fighters or sold it to civilians, Israeli forces said, adding that the GHF ended its control of extremist aid by distributing it directly to civilians.
Hamas denys the allegation. Hamas security officials said Israel had killed more than 800 Hamas police and security guards seeking to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their mission was coordinated with the United Nations
Reuters could not independently test Hamas and Israel’s claims, which did not provide public evidence that extremists systematically stole aid.
The GHF also condemns Hamas’s massive aid theft as it defends its distribution model. The UN and other groups have rejected calls by the GHF, Israel and the US to cooperate with foundations, stating it is violating neutral international humanitarian principles.
In response to a request for comment, GHF introduced Reuters in a July 2nd article in the Washington Post. The Washington Post article says that unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials have said they have benefited from the sale and taxation of stolen humanitarian aid.
AIDS groups necessary to report losses
156 reports of theft or loss of consumables reviewed by the BHA were submitted by UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations working in Gaza as a condition of receiving the US aid fund.
A second source familiar with the issue said that after the US received reports of theft or loss of funded aid, USAID staff would follow up with partner organizations to determine whether Hamas was involved.
The organizations will also “redirect or pause” the aid distribution if they learn that Hamas is nearby, sources said.
Aid organizations working in Gaza must also vet their personnel, subcontractors and suppliers for relationships with extremist groups before receiving US funding.
In the slide presentation, USAID partners said that they tend to overreport the diversion and theft of overreporting aid by groups approved or designated as foreign terrorist organizations (such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad). Because they want to avoid losing US funds, they tend to overreport the diversion and theft of overreporting assistance.
Of the 156 cases of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military actions, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, and five to support “engaging in corrupt activities.”
Armed actors “including gangsters and other other individuals who could have had weapons,” Slide said. Another slide states that “A review of all 156 cases found no partnerships with “US and designated foreign terrorist organizations.” There is one Hamas.
“The majority of the incident could not be clearly attributed to any particular actor,” another slide said. “Partners often found that the goods were stolen during transportation without identifying the perpetrator.”
There may have been a categorized information report regarding the theft of Hamas Aid, but BHA staff have lost access to the classified system in the demolition of the USAID, Slide said.
However, a source familiar with the US intelligence report assessment told Reuters that Hamas was unaware of the US intelligence report to help with diversion and that Washington was unaware of Washington’s reliance on Israeli reports.
BHA analysis found that Israeli forces “caused, directly or indirectly” a total of 44 incidents in which US-financial aid was lost or stolen. They included 11, which were attributed to direct Israeli military actions, such as airstrikes and orders to the Palestinians.
Losses caused indirectly to Israeli forces include those when aid groups force a delivery route to use a high risk of theft or looting, ignoring requests for alternative routes.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landai, Additional Report by Mayan Lebel of Jerusalem, Edited by Don Darfee and Claudia Parsons)
