US halts funding for Gaza condoms

Trump White House slams $50 million program funding Gaza condoms as a ‘preposterous waste of taxpayer money,’ while past attacks suggest Hamas may have used condoms for makeshift balloon bombs.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration has halted American funding for a program supplying the Gaza Strip with condoms, the new White House press secretary said Tuesday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt castigated the program during her press briefing representing the Trump administration, telling reporters that funding Gaza condoms was a “preposterous waste” of American tax dollars.

“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” Leavitt said.

According to the White House press secretary, the new Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, and the Office of Budget Management had found “that there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.”

The two offices also reported that the U.S. was poised to transfer $37 million to the World Health Organization before Trump cut America’s ties with the organization.

The $50 million Gaza condom program was cut after Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive over the weekend halting nearly all foreign aid programs, pending a systematic internal review of every program receiving American funds.

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Rubio’s internal memo came in response to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump last week on the first day of his second term, ordering federal authorities to pause foreign aid while scrutinizing U.S. funding for programs abroad.

Military aid to Egypt and Israel were both granted waivers from the order, as were emergency food programs.

A White House official told Fox News that under Trump’s executive order, programs contradicting the White House’s “priorities” will see their funding terminated, citing both the Gaza condom program and U.S. funding for the WHO.

“If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues,” the White House official said.

“This is similar to how HHS stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend.”

Aside from concerns over the misuse of American taxpayer funds, the Gaza condom program has raised fears that the aid could indirectly support terrorism by organizations like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which have in the past used condoms for makeshift balloon-based incendiary bombs to spark fires in Israeli territory.

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