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Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
USAID analysis finds no evidence to Israel's claims of Hamas looting Gaza aid
An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation. The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organizations between October 2023 and this May. It found 'no reports alleging Hamas' benefited from US-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters. A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, alleging there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos. The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up 'aid corruption.' The findings were shared with the USAID's inspector general's office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave. Israel claims it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the crisis. The UN World Food Program says nearly a quarter of Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and the World Health Organization and doctors in the enclave report starvation deaths of children and others. The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the new private aid group that uses a for-profit US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US military veterans. The study was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of USAID, which was the largest funder of assistance to Gaza before the Trump administration froze all US foreign aid in January, terminating thousands of programs. It has also begun dismantling USAID, whose functions have been folded into the State Department. The analysis found that at least 44 of the 156 incidents where aid supplies were reported stolen or lost were 'either directly or indirectly' due to Israeli military actions, according to the briefing slides. Israel's military did not respond to questions about those findings. The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who receive aid cannot be vetted, it may be possible that US-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, the rulers of Gaza. One source familiar with the study also cautioned that the absence of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas 'does not mean that diversion has not occurred.' Israel's war on Gaza has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health officials. Israeli claims Israel, which controls access to Gaza, has claimed that Hamas steals food supplies from UN and other organizations to use to control the civilian population and boost its finances, including by jacking up the prices of the goods and reselling them to civilians. Asked about the USAID report, the Israeli military told Reuters that its allegations are based on intelligence reports that Hamas militants seized cargoes by 'both covertly and overtly' embedding themselves on aid trucks. The Israeli military said those reports also show that Hamas has diverted up to 25 percent of aid supplies to its fighters or sold them to civilians, adding that GHF has reportedly ended the militants' control of aid by distributing it directly to civilians. Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas security official said that Israel has killed more than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and security guards trying to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated with the UN Reuters could not independently verify the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen aid. GHF also accuses Hamas of massive aid theft in defending its distribution model. The UN and other groups have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the US to cooperate with the foundation, saying it violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality. In response to a request for comment, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials as saying Hamas profited from the sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid. Aid groups required to report losses The 156 reports of theft or losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were filed by UN agencies and other humanitarian groups working in Gaza as a condition of receiving US aid funds. The second source familiar with the matter said that after receiving reports of US-funded aid thefts or losses, USAID staff followed up with partner organizations to try to determine if there was Hamas involvement. Those organizations also would 'redirect or pause' aid distributions if they learned that Hamas was in the vicinity, the source said. Aid organizations working in Gaza also are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups before receiving US funds, a condition that the State Department waived in approving $30 million for GHF last month. The slide presentation noted that USAID partners tended to over-report aid diversion and theft by groups sanctioned or designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations - such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - because they want to avoid losing US funding. Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to aid group personnel 'engaging in corrupt activities,' and six to 'others,' a category that accounted for 'commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,' according to the slide presentation. The armed actors 'included gangs and other miscellaneous individuals who may have had weapons,' said a slide. Another slide said 'a review of all 156 incidents found no affiliations with' US-designated foreign terrorist organizations, of which Hamas is one. 'The majority of incidents could not be definitively attributed to a specific actor,' said another slide. 'Partners often largely discovered the commodities had been stolen in transit without identifying the perpetrator.' It is possible there were classified intelligence reports on Hamas aid thefts, but BHA staff lost access to classified systems in the dismantlement of USAID, said a slide. However, a source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that they knew of no US intelligence reports detailing Hamas aid diversions and that Washington was relying on Israeli reports. The BHA analysis found that the Israeli military 'directly or indirectly caused' a total of 44 incidents in which US-funded aid was lost or stolen. Those included the 11 attributed to direct Israeli military actions, such as airstrikes or orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of the war-torn enclave. Losses indirectly attributed to Israeli military included cases where they compelled aid groups to use delivery routes with high risks of theft or looting, ignoring requests for alternative routes, the analysis said.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan deputy PM in Washington to discuss trade, economic cooperation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, has arrived in Washington to discuss trade, economic cooperation and other matters, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Friday. Pakistan and the United States (US) have been engaged in talks after Washington announced a 29 percent 'reciprocal tariff' on Pakistani exports in April. Islamabad said the move, paused in June for a 90-day period, may undercut its fragile, export-led recovery. The US is Pakistan's top export destination, with shipments totaling $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to official data. From July 2024 to February 2025, exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier. Deputy PM Dar, who was received by Pakistan's Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh upon arrival in Washington, is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry. 'The meeting will discuss important facets of Pakistan-US relations exploring ways and means to strengthen bilateral ties, with a particular focus on promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation,' the Pakistani foreign ministry said. 'The Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister is also scheduled to speak at the US think tank, The Atlantic Council, sharing Pakistan's perspective on regional and global issues as well as the future of Pakistan-US relations.' Nearly 90 percent of Pakistan's exports to the US are textiles, a sector that is most vulnerable to the duties. The South Asian country is also seeking to diversify its trade destinations and export base to mitigate risks related to its international trade as it recovers from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week that Islamabad and Washington are exploring a shift in their economic engagement from a trade-focused relationship to one anchored in long-term investment, following his meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington. 'One thing we discussed was that we have to move beyond the immediate trade imperative for it to be brought into the next level and bring in a real step change,' Aurangzeb said. 'So, the investment imperative will come forward, and areas have already been identified in terms of minerals and mining, in terms of AI [artificial intelligence], in terms of digital infrastructure [and] crypto,' he continued. 'We feel that this will be a real game changer, God willing, in terms of the relationship and the economic relationship between Pakistan and the United States.' The Pakistani finance chief said both sides were committed to resolving outstanding trade issues to move 'toward the finishing line' and begin investment-related discussions 'very quickly.'
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Risk highlighted as Chinese hackers hit Microsoft
PARIS : Software giant Microsoft is at the center of cybersecurity storm after China-linked hackers exploited flaws in SharePoint servers to target hundreds of organizations. While such cyberattacks are not new, the scale of the onslaught and the speed with which the hackers took advantage of freshly discovered vulnerabilities is fueling concern. Dutch startup Eye Security warned Saturday of online attacks targeting SharePoint file-sharing servers, with Microsoft quick to confirm the report and release patches to protect systems. The vulnerability allowed hackers to retrieve credentials and then access SharePoint servers kept at users' facilities, according to Microsoft. Cloud-based SharePoint software was safe from the problem, the company said. Eye Security determined that more than 400 computer systems were compromised by hackers during waves of attacks. Targets included government organizations in Europe, the Middle East and the United States — among them the US nuclear weapons agency, media reports indicated. 'On-premises SharePoint deployments — particularly within government, schools, health care and large enterprise companies — are at immediate risk,' cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks warned in a note. Microsoft has not disclosed the number of victims in the attacks. SharePoint had more than 200 million active users as of 2020, according to the most recent figures available from Microsoft. Microsoft has attributed the cyberattacks to groups backed by China. The culprits are believed to include Chinese state actors known as Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon along with a group called Storm-2603 which 'is considered with moderate confidence to be a threat actor based in China.' The Typhoon groups have been active for a decade or more, and are known for intellectual property theft as well as espionage, according to Microsoft. Less was known about Storm-2603 and its motives. 'Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are ongoing,' Microsoft said, urging users to patch SharePoint servers to avoid becoming hacking victims. Cybersecurity specialist Damien Bancal noted in a recent blog post that he found 'ready-to-use exploit code' for the vulnerability at a popular website. The assault on SharePoint servers is the latest in a series of sophisticated attacks carried out by state-sponsored groups against 'the Microsoft ecosystem,' according to Bancal. In 2021, attacks by a Chinese hacker group known as Silk Typhoon compromised tens of thousands of email servers using Microsft Exchange software. Microsoft's success at making its software commonplace in offices and homes also makes it a prime target for hackers out to steal money or information. Microsoft software can hold sensitive and valuable information. 'It's not Microsoft that is being targeted, it's its customers,' said Shane Barney, head of information security at US-based Keeper. Targeting Microsoft programs is a means to an end, and tomorrow it could be software from another company, said Rodrigue Le Bayon, head of Orange Cyberdefense computer emergency response team. China is not the only nation backing hacker operations as countries around the world hone cyber capabilities, according to Le Bayon. Nevertheless, China is repeatedly singled out by companies and goverments hit by hacks. Western countries have accused hacker groups allegedly supported by China of conducting a global cyber espionage campaign against figures critical of Beijing, democratic institutions, and companies in various sensitive sectors.
