Yesterday, Reuters reported on a leaked a U.S. State Department Agency for International Development report, completed in June, that found no evidence to substantiate Israeli claims that Hamas was stealing relief supplies paid for by the U.S. The analysis was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance within USAID and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of U.S.-funded supplies reported by U.S. aid partner organizations between October 2023 and May 2025. It found “no reports alleging Hamas” benefitted from U.S.-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters.
A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, saying there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos. The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up “aid corruption.” A White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly questioned the existence of the analysis, saying no State Department official had seen it and that it “was likely produced by a deep state operative” seeking to discredit President Donald Trump’s “humanitarian agenda.”
Reuters goes on: The analysis found that at least 44 of the 156 incidents in which aid supplies were reported stolen or lost were “either directly or indirectly” due to Israeli military actions, according to the briefing slides. The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who receive aid cannot be vetted, it was possible that U.S.-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza. One source familiar with the study also cautioned that the absence of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas “does not mean that diversion has not occurred.”
