Israel has no evidence of systematic theft of UN humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian movement Hamas, The New York Times (NYT) reported, citing its sources.
As the publication notes, the Israeli military admits that the UN aid system criticized by the Jewish state was actually quite effective and made it possible to provide food to the population of Gaza. UN operations in the Palestinian enclave have been less susceptible to Hamas interference than the humanitarian operations of many other organizations, as the UN has independently controlled the supply chain and distribution of aid in Gaza.
According to senior Israeli officials, Hamas has stolen aid from smaller organizations because they have not always been on the ground to monitor its distribution. However, the Israeli military has been unable to find evidence of systematic theft of humanitarian aid from the UN.
As of March 2, 2025, aid from international humanitarian organizations and UN agencies has effectively stopped flowing into the Gaza Strip. In May, as an alternative to the traditional aid distribution system, Israel, with the support of the United States, established a new system for organizing the delivery of food to the residents of the Palestinian enclave, which includes the transfer of de facto monopoly rights to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) to set up distribution centers and distribute food and essential goods. The plan was criticized by international organizations, the key point of criticism being the location of distribution centers in "security zones" without hostilities in the southern part of Gaza, which, according to experts, could lead to the forced displacement of the residents of the enclave. Later, the delivery of aid through UN structures was partially resumed, but operations are carried out in a limited mode.