From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 12, 2025
IDF publishes documents it says prove Hamas has been confiscating aid as a matter of policy
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The IDF releases documents allegedly drawn up by Hamas that it says show that the terrorist group has maintained a policy of confiscating 15%-25% of aid entering Gaza during the war in order to finance its operations and pay operatives.
The organization, says the IDF, sent aid directly to terrorists in the field or sold it at exorbitant prices with the profits going to Hamas.
“Al Qassam [the Hamas military wing] took in the past 25% of the aid that arrived,” according to a planning document the IDF says is from Hamas. “It has been agreed with the brothers in Al Qassam that the percentages will be changed as such: 7% to Qassam, 4% to government entities, 4% to elements of the [Hamas] movement.”
The IDF also shares a March 2024 letter from a resident of Gaza’s Rimal neighborhood to a senior Hamas official complaining that the day before, members of the Hamas internal security force took 17 bags of flour and 15 aid coupons from his brother’s truck. The aid was purchased by his brother in Rafah and was meant for his extended family.
“We have a full list of the names of the intended recipients,” says the man, Idris Abdel Rahman Idris. “I express my hope that the confiscated aid will be returned to its legal owners.”
The documents also show the terror group scrambling to react to anger in northern Gaza over a lack of supplies, and civilians hiding aid from Hamas.
Hamas operatives in Beit Hanoun, according to internal documents, were recorded supporting demonstrations against Hamas demanding a ceasefire. Other Hamas members expressed doubt over their organization’s ability to handle rising prices and control theft.
“A number of organization members continue to curse the movement, and claim that the organization is the primary reason for the destruction in Gaza and for the collapsing living situation,” says an internal Hamas document.
Hamas also worked to smuggle in cigarettes to sell at exorbitant prices. Israel blocked the entry of cigarettes for this reason, says the IDF, and thwarted dozens of attempts to sneak cigarettes into Gaza.
Hamas funded itself through protection rackets and the Muslim hawalah international money transfer system through members in Turkey, says the IDF.
In all, Hamas has made hundreds of millions of dollars by stealing humanitarian aid during the war, says the Shin Bet.
The Times of Israel Community.