REUTERS, Washington

An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation.

The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organisations between October 2023 and this May.

It found “no reports alleging Hamas” benefited from US-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.”

The findings were shared with the USAID’s inspector general’s office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave.

Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the crisis.

The WFP says nearly a quarter of Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and the WHO and doctors in the enclave report starvation deaths of children and others.

The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the new private aid group that uses a for-profit US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US military veterans.

The study was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance of USAID, which was the largest funder of assistance to Gaza before the Trump administration froze all US foreign aid in January, terminating thousands of programs.