Israel says up to 90% of Gaza aid goes to Hamas

Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter says as much as 90% of humanitarian aid sent to Gaza has been seized by Hamas and sold on the black market to fund its operations.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hamas terror organization is estimated to have seized up to 90% of the humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip before the launch of operations by an American-backed relief group late last month, Israel’s top diplomat to the United States claimed on Friday.

In a video statement, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter defended Israel’s cooperation with the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) and the IDF’s limits on incoming Gaza aid.

During most of the war in Gaza, Israel permitted the United Nations and external aid groups to transfer food, medicine, fuel, and other goods to the Gaza Strip.

On March 2 this year, following the collapse of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave, barring the entry of all aid.

However, last month, following intense international pressure and calls from the Trump administration to end the blockade, Israel allowed the renewal of aid deliveries to Gaza, mirroring the transfers conducted in 2023, 2024 and early 2025.

Noting that a total of 92,000 truckloads of aid had been allowed into the Strip, Leiter claimed that between 70% and 90% of all goods transferred to Gaza were stolen by Hamas terrorists and sold to finance the group’s operations.

“For the past year and a half, since the massacre of October 7, 2023, and the beginning of our war against Hamas, we have transferred 92,000 truckloads, semi-trailers, of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” said Leiter.

“Seventy to 90% of the food, the pharmaceuticals, medical care that was transferred into Gaza was hijacked, was stolen by Hamas. People donated money to NGOs, and Hamas took it and sold the material in order to reconstitute themselves as a terror organization, to hire new terrorists, and to sell the food, to make money, to make profit, off the donations of people from around the world.”

“So we had families in Israel sending their sons and daughters into battle, and at the same time, we were sending humanitarian aid to the people firing at our sons and daughters.”

On May 27, the U.S.-based GHF launched its aid distribution operations in Gaza, transferring goods directly to Gaza civilians at relief depots guarded by private contractors and located within the IDF’s security zones in Gaza.

The group has come under criticism amid allegations it serves as a front-group of the Israeli government, which has allegedly limited the flow of aid into Gaza as an additional step to prevent Hamas from stealing incoming goods.

“This direct delivery system is designed to prevent Hamas from seizing crucial supplies, ensuring they reach their intended beneficiaries without diversion,” Leiter said.

“If you take away the political and military power away from the murderous idea of Hamas, they will ultimately crumble, collapse and be destroyed,” he said.