WASHINGTON — An inside U.S. authorities evaluation discovered no proof of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian provides, difficult the primary rationale that Israel and the U.S. give for backing a brand new armed personal help operation.
The evaluation, which has not been beforehand reported, was carried out by a bureau throughout the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth and accomplished in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or lack of U.S.-funded provides reported by U.S. help accomplice organizations between October 2023 and this Might.
It discovered “no experiences alleging Hamas” benefited from U.S.-funded provides, in line with a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters.
A State Division spokesperson disputed the findings, saying there may be video proof of Hamas looting help, however offered no such movies. The spokesperson additionally accused conventional humanitarian teams of masking up “help corruption.”
A White Home spokesperson, Anna Kelly, questioned the existence of the evaluation, saying no State Division official had seen it and that it “was doubtless produced by a deep state operative” looking for to discredit President Donald Trump’s “humanitarian agenda.”
The findings had been shared with the USAID’s inspector normal’s workplace and State Division officers concerned in Center East coverage, stated two sources aware of the matter, and are available as dire meals shortages deepen within the devastated enclave.
Israel says it’s dedicated to permitting in help however should management it to stop it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the disaster.
The U.N. World Meals Program says practically 1 / 4 of Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like situations, hundreds are struggling acute malnutrition, and the World Well being Group and docs within the enclave report hunger deaths of kids and others.
The U.N. additionally estimates that Israeli forces have killed greater than 1,000 folks looking for meals provides, the bulk close to the militarized distribution websites of the Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF), the brand new personal help group that makes use of a for-profit U.S. logistics agency run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. army veterans.
The examine was carried out by the Bureau of Humanitarian Help (BHA) of USAID, which was the biggest funder of help to Gaza earlier than the Trump administration froze all U.S. overseas help in January, terminating hundreds of applications. It has additionally begun dismantling USAID, whose features have been folded into the State Division.
The evaluation discovered that no less than 44 of the 156 incidents the place help provides had been reported stolen or misplaced had been “both immediately or not directly” as a result of Israeli army actions, in line with the briefing slides.
Israel’s army didn’t reply to questions on these findings.
The examine famous a limitation: as a result of Palestinians who obtain help can’t be vetted, it was attainable that U.S.-funded provides went to administrative officers of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza.
One supply aware of the examine additionally cautioned that the absence of experiences of widespread help diversion by Hamas “doesn’t imply that diversion has not occurred.”
The battle in Gaza started after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 folks and capturing 251 hostages, in line with Israeli tallies. Almost 60,000 Palestinians have been killed because the Israeli assault started, in line with Palestinian well being officers.
Israel says Hamas diverts help
Israel, which controls entry to Gaza, has stated that Hamas steals meals provides from U.N. and different organizations to make use of to regulate the civilian inhabitants and increase its funds, together with by jacking up the costs of the products and reselling them to civilians.
Requested concerning the USAID report, the Israeli army instructed Reuters that its allegations are primarily based on intelligence experiences that Hamas militants seized cargoes by “each covertly and overtly” embedding themselves on help vehicles.
These experiences additionally present that Hamas has diverted as much as 25% of help provides to its fighters or bought them to civilians, the Israeli army stated, including that GHF has ended the militants’ management of help by distributing it on to civilians.
Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas safety official stated that Israel has killed greater than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and safety guards attempting to guard help autos and convoy routes. Their missions had been coordinated with the U.N.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen help.
GHF additionally accuses Hamas of huge help theft in defending its distribution mannequin. The U.N. and different teams have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the U.S. to cooperate with the inspiration, saying it violates worldwide humanitarian ideas of neutrality.
In response to a request for remark, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Submit article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and nameless Israeli officers as saying Hamas profited from the gross sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian help.
Assist teams required to report losses
The 156 experiences of theft or losses of provides reviewed by BHA had been filed by U.N. companies and different humanitarian teams working in Gaza as a situation of receiving U.S. help funds.
The second supply aware of the matter stated that after receiving experiences of U.S.-funded help thefts or losses, USAID employees adopted up with accomplice organizations to attempt to decide if there was Hamas involvement.
These organizations additionally would “redirect or pause” help distributions in the event that they discovered that Hamas was within the neighborhood, the supply stated.
Assist organizations working in Gaza are also required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist teams earlier than receiving U.S. funds, a situation that the State Division waived in approving $30 million for GHF final month.
The slide presentation famous that USAID companions tended to over-report help diversion and theft by teams sanctioned or designated by the U.S. as overseas terrorist organizations — resembling Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — as a result of they need to keep away from shedding U.S. funding.
Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 had been attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed folks, 11 on to Israeli army motion, 11 to deprave subcontractors, 5 to assist group personnel “partaking in corrupt actions,” and 6 to “others,” a class that accounted for “commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,” in line with the slide presentation.
The armed actors “included gangs and different miscellaneous people who could have had weapons,” stated a slide. One other slide stated “a evaluate of all 156 incidents discovered no affiliations with” U.S.-designated overseas terrorist organizations, of which Hamas is one.
“Nearly all of incidents couldn’t be definitively attributed to a selected actor,” stated one other slide. “Companions typically largely found the commodities had been stolen in transit with out figuring out the perpetrator.”
It’s attainable there have been labeled intelligence experiences on Hamas help thefts, however BHA employees misplaced entry to labeled techniques within the dismantlement of USAID, stated a slide.
Nonetheless, a supply aware of U.S. intelligence assessments instructed Reuters that they knew of no U.S. intelligence experiences detailing Hamas help diversions and that Washington was counting on Israeli experiences.
The BHA evaluation discovered that the Israeli army “immediately or not directly precipitated” a complete of 44 incidents through which U.S.-funded help was misplaced or stolen. These included the 11 attributed to direct Israeli army actions, resembling airstrikes or orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of the war-torn enclave.
Losses not directly attributed to Israeli army included circumstances the place they compelled help teams to make use of supply routes with excessive dangers of theft or looting, ignoring requests for different routes, the evaluation stated.
