US review finds no evidence Hamas stole humanitarian aid in Gaza: Report

Just days after the US State Department claimed widespread theft of US-funded humanitarian aid by Hamas, an internal US government review has found no evidence to back the allegations. An analysis by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) into 156 incidents of waste, fraud and abuse between October 2023 and May 2025 "found no affiliations" with any sanctioned groups or foreign terrorist organisations.

Hamas and the saga of humanitarian aid theft

The Donald Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the militant group Hamas was behind the widespread theft of humanitarian aid in Gaza. In a statement on Thursday, the US State Department touted the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US and Israel-backed organisation, as the only way to send aid into Gaza. "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," said State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott. "We're calling for additional support of that foundation to deliver that aid," he added.

However, the internal US government review by USAID found that there was only a small amount – less than one per cent – misdirection of USAID-funded aid in Gaza. Citing a person in the know, CNN reports that "There was no indication that there was a systemic loss due to Hamas interference or theft or diversion".

The findings were presented to US State Department's Middle East bureau, as well as people working on humanitarian aid and the USAID Office of the Inspector General. However, as per the CNN report, it was not clear if the findings have been relayed to the State Department leadership. While the USAID ceased its operations on July 1, the watchdog still remains operational.