No, Israel is not weaponizing aid—UNRWA and Hamas are. The accusation that Israel is “weaponizing” humanitarian aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) turns reality on its head. In fact, GHF was created to stop the weaponization of aid—by Hamas and its enablers within the UN aid system.

For years, the UN’s model of aid distribution in Gaza allowed Hamas to steal humanitarian supplies, resell them for profit, and fund its terror activities. In April 2025, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Western officials had verified these practices.[1] Even the UN itself acknowledged looting by “armed actors”—which clearly includes Hamas.[2] This system not only empowered Hamas but further impoverished Gaza’s civilians by depriving them of aid intended to be free.

GHF was designed to fix that. As it states on its website, GHF’s process of “securely moving aid” to “Scure Distribution Sites” allows for direct aid distribution “to the people of Gaza without interference or diversion.”[3]

Hamas immediately recognized the threat and called on Gazans to reject GHF and stand behind the UN.[4] UNRWA quickly echoed these talking points. Its Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, even mocked the initiative as the “Gaza Humiliation Foundation”[5] and branded it a “death trap.”[6] Yet, despite GHF’s repeated offers to assist with distribution of UN aid, UNRWA and the broader UN system have refused to cooperate.[7] Instead, in July 2025, while decrying child malnutrition in Gaza, the UN left nearly 950 trucks of aid undelivered at the Kerem Shalom crossing.[8]

Meanwhile, GHF got to work. By the end of July 2025—just two months into its operations—GHF had delivered approximately 100 million meals at four aid sites, without diversion by Hamas.[9] Accusations of Israeli massacres at GHF sites, widely circulated in the media, were based on unverified Hamas propaganda[10] and have been denied by both the GHF and IDF.[11] What’s often omitted is that Hamas has attacked GHF distribution routes and even killed 12 GHF aid workers in June.[12]

Far from being weaponized by Israel, GHF is a challenge to the corrupt, violent aid model that UNRWA and Hamas have entrenched.

The real “weaponization” of aid is happening through UNRWA, which, according to May 2025 Israeli government data, employs 1,462 individuals in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or other terrorist groups—roughly 12% of its local staff, including 15% of senior educators.[13] UNRWA installations are routinely exploited by Hamas for military purposes—tunneling, storing weapons, and staging operations—with no meaningful UN oversight or accountability.

This alignment is ideological as well as operational. UNRWA does not merely provide services. It champions the so-called “right of return”[14] for millions of Palestinians classified by UNRWA as “refugees”—a euphemism for the destruction of Israel through an October 7^th-style invasion and massacre. In this sense, UNRWA is fully aligned with the Hamas Charter, which explicitly calls for Israel’s elimination through jihad.[15] Former UNRWA Gaza union leader Suhail Al-Hindi—now a senior Hamas figure—described UNRWA’s role as ensuring the “right of return remains intact.”[16]

UNRWA’s international leaders openly affirm this political mission. Former Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl described UNRWA as “not only a service provider,” but also “the witness of the injustice,” pledging to “defend this” that role.[17] Current head Philippe Lazzarini attacks efforts to close UNRWA as attempts to silence that narrative—i.e., “to eliminate UNRWA’s role in protecting the rights of Palestine Refugees and acting as a witness to their continuing plight.”[18]

The hypocrisy runs deep. When UNRWA partners with Hamas, it justifies the cooperation as necessary for delivering aid and protecting staff.[19] But when Israel offers an alternative aid channel that bypasses Hamas and directly reaches the Gazan civilian population, it is accused of “weaponizing” aid. By amplifying this false narrative, countries that attack GHF are not protecting humanitarian values—they are protecting Hamas’s monopoly on international aid which funds its terror activities.