The accusation was the Israeli government's main argument for imposing a blockade to prevent food aid from reaching Gaza, which was partially eased at the end of May. Israel claims that Hamas loots most of the international aid sent to the enclave for its own benefit.
On May 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a speech, "Since October 7, Israel has sent 92,000 aid trucks into Gaza. [...] Yet as we had let the aid come in, Hamas stole it. They took a huge chunk for themselves. The rest they sold at exorbitant prices to the Palestinian population."
According to several pro-Israel internet users, the United Nations also shares the Israeli head of state's assessment. “87% of humanitarian aid has been looted by Hamas,” they write on X, Instagram and Facebook, sharing a poster that also shows a fighter from the Islamist movement. According to these posts, the source of the 87 percent figure for looted aid is the UN.
A misleading interpretation of UN statistics
However, the UN has never made this claim. There is no official statement from the United Nations claiming that Hamas steals 87 percent of humanitarian aid on the website of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN agency responsible for aid to Palestinians.
So where did the 87 percent figure come from? It is likely a misleading use of UN data. The UN2720 website, the UN body responsible for statistics on humanitarian aid in Gaza, keeps a precise track of the number of aid trucks entering the enclave.
From May 19 to August 22, UN270 reveals that 4,659 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza. Of this total, 4,107 trucks were “intercepted” – meaning that their cargo was stolen – representing 88 percent of the total number of aid trucks sent.
However, contrary to what internet users claim, UN2720 does not assert that most of this aid was diverted by Hamas. On its website, the organisation simply states that the “intercepted” trucks were taken “either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors”.
Olga Cherevko, from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, provided further details about the looters to the Israeli media outlet Times of Israel: the vast majority of the looting was being carried out “by hungry Gazans, not by armed gangs”, the UN employee said.
“The long-standing restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment where there is a lack of confidence by the communities that aid will reach them. This has resulted in many of our convoys offloaded directly by starving, desperate people,” Cherevko explained.
Israeli army says 25% of aid diverted by Hamas
The Israeli army has also released its own estimate of the proportion of aid allegedly diverted by Hamas. As reported by Reuters on July 25, the IDF claims, based on intelligence reports, that Hamas has diverted up to 25 percent of aid supplies for its own fighters or to be resold at a profit to Palestinian civilians. The army's estimate is therefore significantly lower than the 87 percent claimed by internet users.
Hamas, for its part, categorically denies any allegations of diversion. Reuters reports that it has not been able to independently verify the statements made by the Israeli army and Hamas.
However, a report published on July 25, 2024, by the Office of the Inspector General of USAID, the agency responsible for delivering US humanitarian aid to Gaza, estimated that USAID-funded aid was at “high risk for diversion and misuse” by Hamas and other armed groups.
Another USAID report published a year later on July 25, 2025, nevertheless concluded that the agency had found no evidence of widespread Hamas theft of US-funded humanitarian aid, based on an analysis of 156 incidents that occurred between October 2023 and May 2025.
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