U.S. Ambassador to Tel Aviv: No evidence of Israel's claims that Hamas stole aid

Two prominent former American officials in President Donald Trump's administration revealed that the United States received no evidence from the Israeli occupation army or the United Nations that Hamas was stealing or diverting humanitarian aid funded by Washington.

In a joint article, Jack Lew, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, and David Satterfield, the former U.S. envoy for humanitarian affairs in the Middle East, confirmed that the Israeli evidence was "fragmentary and limited," as clips were presented showing armed individuals whom Israel claimed were Hamas members controlling aid trucks.

The authors noted that an internal report from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) leaked last June reached the same conclusion, but politicians in the U.S. State Department opposed the report, relying on information sourced from the Israeli side.

Lew and Satterfield also acknowledged that Hamas received some aid, but this did not amount to a systematic theft operation, as the Ministry of Interior and National Security in the Gaza Strip confirmed that the occupying state of Israel sponsors groups of thieves and provides cover for them to loot aid trucks.

In a related context, the officials added that Israel allowed Hamas police to secure aid convoys in the first year of the war, but ended this arrangement in January 2024, leading to the emergence of criminal gangs and organized looting of humanitarian aid.

For the first time, Lew and Satterfield revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested U.S. President Joe Biden to establish a floating dock off the coast of Gaza to facilitate the entry of aid, a project considered a costly failure.

Although the dock helped feed about 450,000 Palestinians, it collapsed several times and was permanently closed within less than a month, while the port of Ashdod remained open for aid entry under an implicit understanding.

Lew and Satterfield concluded by noting that the new U.S. administration is less involved in the details of aid delivery and has begun dismantling the American humanitarian support system worldwide.