ISTANBUL

A recent US government internal review rebuffs claims that Palestinian group Hamas systematically diverted US-funded humanitarian aid, challenging previous assertions by Israel and the US.

An unreported US Agency for International Development (USAID) study examined 156 cases of lost or stolen aid between October 2023 and May 2025, and found no evidence of Hamas benefiting from US-supplied aid.

The report contradicts claims by Israel and the US, which have been used to justify a controversial new armed private aid operation, which has resulted over 1,000 deaths among starving aid-seekers.

The findings emerge amid Gaza’s worsening food crisis under Israeli blockade, with Israel insisting on controlling aid to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it holds responsible for the crisis.

Gaza has been under a heavy Israeli blockade and bombardment since October 2023, with tens of thousands killed and humanitarian agencies warning of a deepening famine.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, over 1,083 people have been killed and more than 7,275 wounded while attempting to access food at aid distribution points since the war began.

Israel has killed more than 59,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, gutted the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.