An internal analysis conducted by the US government has not reached any evidence of the involvement of Hamas in a systematic theft of humanitarian supplies funded by the United States, which questions the main argument that Israel and Washington offer to support a new special armed aid mechanism.
An office affiliated with the American International Development Agency conducted this analysis, which was not published before, and was completed in late June. The analysis studied 156 incidents of theft or loss of supplies funded by the United States, which was reported by American partner aid organizations in October 2023 until May this year.
According to the results of the results, which was seen by Reuters, no analysis found, “any reports claimed that (Hamas) has benefited from the supplies funded by the United States.”
A US State Department spokesman denied the authenticity of these results, confirming the existence of video evidence of Hamas’s looting of aid, but he did not provide any videos. The spokesman accused traditional humanitarian organizations of covering up “corruption of aid.”
The White House spokeswoman questioned the existence of this analysis, saying that no official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was presented, and that “one of the deep state agents was likely to be prepared” in an effort to distort the “agenda of President Donald Trump).
Two sources familiar with the matter said that the results were handed over to the Office of the Inspector General of the American Agency for International Development and the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerned with the Middle East policy, while the acute food shortage in the devastating sector is exacerbated.
Israel says it is committed to allowing the entry of aid, but it has to control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas. Israel holds the Palestinian movement responsible for the crisis.
The United Nations World Food Program says that nearly a quarter of the 2.1 million Gaza population is facing famine -like conditions, and thousands of acute malnutrition suffers, and the World Health Organization and doctors in the sector talk about the death of children and others due to hunger.
The United Nations estimates also indicate that the Israeli forces killed more than a thousand people who were seeking to obtain food supplies, most of them near the military distribution sites of the “Gaza Humanitarian Corporation”, a new special assistance organization that uses the services of a US -profit logistical company, run by a former US CIA officer and ancient US military warriors.
The analysis was conducted by the American Humanitarian Agency Office for International Development, which was the largest financier of Gaza aid, before the administration of President Donald Trump froze all US foreign aid in January, ending thousands of programs.
The administration also embarked on the dismantling of the American Agency for International Development, whose jobs were integrated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the brief display segments, the analysis concluded that at least 44 out of 156 incidents were reported that the theft or loss of aid supplies was “directly or indirectly” due to Israeli military measures. The Israeli army did not respond to questions about these results.
The analysis indicated that there is a weak point, which is; Since the Palestinians who receive aid cannot be verified, it is possible that the supplies funded by the United States go to administrative officials of the Hamas movement that runs the Gaza Strip.
A source familiar with the analysis also warned that the lack of reports of the transfer of the aid track on a large scale by Hamas “does not mean that the transfer did not happen.”
The war began in Gaza after Hamas led an attack on Israel in October 2023, which Israeli statistics say killed 1,200 people and detained 251 hostages. According to Palestinian health officials, nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli campaign.
Israel: “Hamas” turns aid to its fighters
Israel, which controls entering Gaza, said that Hamas is stealing food supplies from the United Nations and other organizations to control civilians and increase its financial resources in ways that include raising goods and reselling them to civilians.
In response to a question about the American Agency for International Development’s report, the Israeli army told Reuters that his accusations against Hamas are based on intelligence reports indicating that the movement’s fighters seized shipments by infiltrating “secretly and publicly” to aid truck.
The Israeli army stated that these reports also show that “Hamas” turned up to 25 percent of the aid supplies to its fighters or sold it to civilians, adding that the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” ended the control of the aid by distributing it directly to civilians.
Hamas denies these accusations. A security official said that Israel had killed more than 800 police and security guards of Hamas while trying to protect aid vehicles and caravan roads after coordinating their duties with the United Nations.
Reuters was unable to independently verify what Hamas and Israel say, which did not publicly provide any evidence that the movement’s fighters were systematically stole the aid.
In defense of its distribution model, the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” also accuses Hamas of stealing huge amounts of aid. The United Nations and other organizations rejected calls from the Foundation, Israel and the United States to cooperate with the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”, saying that it violates the principles of international humanitarian neutrality.
In response to a request for comment, the Foundation referred to Reuters to an article published by the Washington Post on July 2, which was quoted by a citizen from Gaza and unknown Israeli officials as saying that Hamas had been brought up from the stolen humanitarian aid sales and the taxes it imposed on it.
The condition of reporting theft or loss
United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza submitted 156 reports on the theft or loss of supplies because it is a condition for receiving American aid money. The Humanitarian Aid Office reviewed these reports.
The second informed source said that the US Agency for International Development has followed with partner organizations, in an attempt to determine whether Hamas was involved in the theft or loss of aid funded by the United States, after receiving reports.
The source added that these organizations may “redirect or stop” the distribution of aid if they know the existence of “Hamas” in the region.
It is required of the relief organizations operating in Gaza to verify that their employees and those who are interior and the suppliers do not have any relations with “extremist groups” before receiving American funds, which is a condition that the US State Department condoned when it agreed to 30 million dollars in favor of the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” last month.
The presentation indicated that the agency’s partners tend to exaggerate the reporting of the transfer of aid and their stealing from the groups subject to sanctions or the United States classified by the United States, foreign terrorist organizations, such as “Hamas” and the “Islamic Jihad in Palestine” movement, because they want to avoid losing American financing.
The presentation stated that among the facts of the theft or the amount are 156, 63 of which were attributed to unknown persons, 35 to armed elements, 25 to isolated people, 11 to direct Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt interior contractors, 5 to individuals from relief organizations “involved in corruption activities”, and 6 to “other” sides, which include a category that includes “goods” I was stolen in mysterious circumstances. ”
One of the shows showed that armed elements “included gangs and other individuals who may have weapons.”
Another segment stated that “the review of all 156 facts, did not reveal any connection” to foreign organizations classified by the United States terrorist, such as “Hamas”.
A third segment showed that “most of the facts were not categorically attributed to a specific active body … often the partners discover that the goods were stolen during the transfer without specifying the identity of the perpetrator.”
A segment revealed that there were secret intelligence reports of Hamas theft of aid, but the employees of the Humanitarian Aid Office lost access to secret systems when the US Agency for International Development is dismantled.
A source familiar with the American intelligence assessments told Reuters that they do not know that any American intelligence reports talking in detail about the transfer of Hamas for aid, adding that Washington is based on Israeli reports.
The office analysis found that the Israeli army “caused directly or indirectly” in a total of 44 incidents in which it lost or stolen aid from the United States. Among these facts, 11 of them belong to direct Israeli military actions, such as air strikes or orders issued to the Palestinians to evacuate areas of the Strip.
The analysis revealed that the losses attributed indirectly to the Israeli army include cases in which relief groups were forced to use delivery methods, which have a high risk of theft or looting, ignoring requests to find alternative methods.
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