There is no evidence that Hamas systematically steals food from United Nations aid workers. This is the conclusion of an internal report by the American government organization USAID. Israeli sources confirmed this conclusion to The New York Times on Saturday.
For the report, aid organization USAID investigated 156 incidents of alleged theft by Hamas between October 2023 and May this year. These involved food deliveries financed by the United States.
In at least 44 of these incidents, theft was “directly or indirectly” the result of Israeli actions. Furthermore, the report concludes that there is no evidence that Hamas systematically benefited from US-funded aid.
The findings are not public, but were reviewed by news agency Reuters. The investigation was completed in June.
USAID was one of the largest funders of aid in Gaza until President Donald Trump virtually halted all foreign aid in January. He later also began dismantling USAID, which has major consequences for aid delivery worldwide.
Theft by Hamas was the reason for Israel to hardly allow food in
Since the war with Hamas, Israel has only allowed limited aid into the Gaza Strip, where there is severe famine and Palestinians are being starved en masse. The main reason for Israel not to allow hardly any aid is the accusation that Hamas would steal food through third parties for its own use.
Many aid organizations and countries hold Israel responsible for the dire situation in Gaza, but the government shifts the blame to Hamas and the aid organizations themselves.
A spokesperson for the US State Department denies USAID’s findings. According to the spokesman, there is video evidence of Hamas plundering aid. He did not clarify what video evidence that was. The spokesperson also accused aid organizations in Gaza of concealing “aid corruption.”
A White House spokesperson also denies the existence of the report. Insiders tell Reuters that the report does exist and that it was shared with the State Department.
Israel itself also has no evidence of structural theft by Hamas
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Israel itself also has no evidence that Hamas has structurally stolen food from UN organizations. This is what two senior officials within the Israeli armed forces and two other Israeli insiders told the newspaper. The UN is currently the largest provider of aid in Gaza.
Contrary to what the government of Benjamin Netanyahu always claims, the UN aid system is extremely effective in supplying desperate and hungry Palestinians, the insiders say.
They say that UN aid, for example, was more reliable than the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. That Israeli-American aid initiative was established as an alternative to other aid organizations, but does not offer nearly enough to help all Palestinians. The UN system was also less susceptible to theft than GHF, the Israeli insiders say.
However, the sources say that Hamas has stolen food from smaller aid organizations. The militant group was not available for comment, writes The New York Times.
Instead of allowing aid, Israel comes up with controversial alternatives
The situation in Gaza, which according to the UN is currently “the hungriest place on earth,” is deteriorating daily. Between March and May this year, no aid at all was allowed into Gaza for eleven weeks. Since the resumption of aid, a few hundred food trucks per week are allowed in, while the UN says that at least five hundred trucks per day are needed to alleviate the hunger crisis in Gaza. The necessary aid is ready at the border, but is not allowed in.
Instead of providing the necessary aid, Israel itself comes up with highly controversial aid initiatives that do not meet the food demand in Gaza. Earlier this year, the Israeli-American initiative Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started. But chaos regularly breaks out at GHF locations because the aid is much too small-scale. In a few months’ time, almost eight hundred Palestinians died at GHF points.
On Friday, Israel announced that it will allow airdrops with relief supplies. But experts immediately slammed that aid proposal. The airdrops are no more than a drop in the ocean, they told NU.nl.