Alleged widespread Hamas’s theft of Gaza aid, found to be a hoax by the US government.

An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, contradicting the State Department’s claims that were used to justify backing a controversial private organization that took over aid distribution in the enclave.

The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), looked into 156 incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse reported by partner organizations between October 2023 and May 2025.

Moreover, the review found only a negligible quantum of misdirection of USAID-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza – less than one percent was affected by loss, theft, diversion, fraud or waste. “There was no indication that there was a systemic loss due to Hamas’s interference or theft or diversion”, a source familiar with the report.

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed there is widespread theft of humanitarian aid by Hamas. They have said that only the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), a private US and Israel-backed organization, is able to distribute assistance to the besieged enclave without such theft occurring.

“We want to see as much aid getting into Gaza as possible in a way that is not being looted by Hamas, and this mechanism, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been a way to do that”, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Thursday. “We’re calling for additional support of that foundation to deliver that aid”.

The USAID findings were presented to officials working in the State Department’s Middle East bureau, as well as people working on humanitarian aid and the USAID Office of the Inspector General. USAID ceased operations on July 1 and some of its work was transferred to the State Department. However, the USAID watchdog remains operational. It is unclear if the findings have been relayed to State Department leadership.

More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and the United Nations, with 60% killed while trying to reach GHF sites. Thousands are suffering from malnutrition and more than a dozen people have starved to death this week amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid.

The USAID analysis found that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “was either directly or indirectly responsible for the loss” of US-provided aid in 28% of incidents of theft or waste between October 2023 and May 2025. The finding was based on the reports from partners organisations.

According to a presentation of the analysis, this included the loss of goods due to “airstrikes, evacuation orders, or IDF direction to use high risk delivery routes against partner requests. Partners often noted that looting occurred en route (to distribution sites) despite extensive coordination with the IDF. When partners desired to take alternate routes due to high risk of theft or looting, they were forced by the IDF to take riskier routes with known threats putting commodities at risk”.

On Saturday, the IDF rejected the findings of the USAID report, saying it ignored “clear and explicit evidence that Hamas exploits humanitarian aid to sustain its fighting capabilities, and goes so far as to criticize the IDF for routing decisions made specifically to protect humanitarian staff and shipments”.

“When the IDF directs aid deliveries along specific routes, it is based on the operational reality and intelligence assessments, aimed at safeguarding both the aid and the humanitarian actors — precisely the issue the report claims are not being addressed”, it said.

It went on, “The USAID report represents a striking example of biased framing. Instead of holding Hamas and other terror groups accountable for looting and obstructing aid from reaching the population, it assigns ‘indirect responsibility’ to Israel for the actions of armed militants and terror organisations”.

Team Maverick