US analysis found no evidence of Hamas aid theft in Gaza
An internal US government review has found no evidence of systematic theft of US-funded humanitarian aid by Hamas, contradicting a claim frequently made by Israel and its allies in Washington.
The analysis, revealed exclusively by Reuters on Friday, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by partner organisations between October 2023 and May 2025 and found “no reports alleging Hamas” had benefited from the aid.
Instead, 44 of the incidents of stolen or lost aid were found to be either directly or indirectly caused by the Israeli military.
This included 11 attributed to direct Israeli actions, such as air strikes, and others linked to the military compelling aid organisations to use delivery routes known to carry a high risk of theft or looting.
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Sixty-three of the incidents were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed individuals, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to corrupt aid group personnel and six to “others” under unclear circumstances.
The armed actors “included gangs and other miscellaneous individuals who may have had weapons”, said one slide of the analysis.
Palestinians have accused the Israel-aligned Abu Shabab gang of involvement in the theft of aid.
Another slide said "a review of all 156 incidents found no affiliations with" groups designated by the US as foreign terrorist organisations, including Hamas.
The 156 reports were filed by UN agencies and other groups working in Gaza, as a condition of receiving US aid funds.
The study was conducted by the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance of USAID.
A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, telling Reuters that there was video evidence of Hamas looting aid. It did not provide the footage.
'Aid corruption'
The spokesperson also accused international aid groups of covering up “aid corruption”.
The analysis was shared with USAID’s Office of Inspector General and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, sources told Reuters.
A source familiar with the study said the absence of systematic theft by Hamas of aid “does not mean that diversion has not occurred”.
Israel controls all access to humanitarian aid into Gaza and has imposed a near-total blockade on the enclave since March.
Officials in Israel have long claimed that Hamas steals food supplies from the UN and other organisations to boost its coffers and resells goods to civilians.
The Israeli military told Reuters its allegations were based on intelligence that Hamas seized aid cargoes by “both covertly and overtly” embedding themselves on trucks. Israel has not made any such intelligence report public.
The USAID report casts even further doubt on the unverified allegations that were used as part of the rationale to set up the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The UN says that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid supplies, mostly near the highly militarised GHF sites.
The UN and other major international aid groups have refused US and Israeli calls to cooperate with GHF, stating that the organisation violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality.
Israel’s siege on Gaza since 2 March has blocked the entry of humanitarian supplies by the UN and its partner organisations to the enclave, bringing the 2.1 million population to the brink of famine.
At least 115 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
More than 59,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023 and over 142,000 others have been wounded.
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