Information obtained by Israel Hayom details how Hamas, in collusion with UN agencies, seized humanitarian aid at the expense of Gaza's two million residents, right under the nose of Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Hamas had a consistent method of identifying vulnerabilities in the entry process of goods into the Strip. The group created a parasitic mechanism to smuggle items like communication equipment and cigarettes into Gaza via trucks belonging to international aid agencies. This method brought millions of dollars into Hamas's treasury, even as Israel was actively waging a war to dismantle its infrastructure.
Monitoring of Hamas's methods revealed direct clandestine collaboration with UN organizations. Throughout 2024, there were continuous communications between Hamas-linked smugglers and staff from the UN's World Food Programme.
Hamas deliberately used the WFP's aid supply route to smuggle cigarettes hidden inside aid sacks. Internationally gathered documentation paints a clear picture of tight cooperation masked by a public facade of Hamas having forcibly taken over aid operations. In practice, Hamas terrorists routinely seized control of incoming aid trucks, looted their contents, sold the goods to Gaza residents, or stockpiled them for their own use.
UN staff looked on
On several occasions documented in northern Gaza, Hamas took de facto control of aid convoys and goods, publicly declaring it was managing distribution. UN workers reportedly stood by passively.
Astonishingly, some aid trucks, at times up to 600 per day, were directed straight to the homes of senior Hamas officials or to the group's warehouses. The data point to a systematic pattern of collaboration between Hamas and the UN aid agency, operating freely much like its pre-October 7 relationship with UNRWA.
Throughout the war, even after senior Hamas figures publicly declared their takeover of UN facilities and redistribution of aid, the UN never issued warnings or statements condemning the seizures. On the contrary, the UN and its Secretary-General António Guterres are now pressuring the American humanitarian fund operating in Gaza, an Israeli-American initiative aimed at severing Hamas's grip on aid distribution.
Instead of supporting this new organization's efforts to prevent aid from reaching terrorists, the UN is reportedly undermining it, seeking to preserve the system that had long enriched Hamas and its operatives under the guise of humanitarian work.
Data gathered just in the past month show not only Hamas's direct control over aid but also an operational arrangement between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the WFP. Under this deal, each group received an agreed-upon share of the trucks officially entering Gaza.
Absurd display
The farcical situation has reached the point where UN agencies operating in Gaza employ Hamas-appointed security guards to prevent citizens from looting the aid trucks. In doing so, the UN's actions directly aligned with Hamas's interests. Unsurprisingly, Hamas is now actively working to sabotage the American fund's operations, which are backed by both Israel and the US, and are intended to halt the flow of so-called humanitarian aid to the terrorist group.
The threat Hamas feels is tangible. Just last Friday, Hamas issued a warning to workers of the American Gaza aid fund to cease operations: "This is your final warning - your movements are being monitored precisely. You will not be forgiven for your involvement in projects that dishonor our people and serve suspicious agendas under the guise of humanitarian work. There will be severe consequences, and you will bear full responsibility. Stop now."
The fund temporarily halted its operations that day. In recent days, multiple reports have emerged of daily confrontations surrounding the fund's work, as Hamas appears to be in a final struggle to maintain its survival.
