Israel has delivered tens of thousands of tents and other winter supplies into Gaza amid heavy rains, while Hamas continues to extract large sums from the aid and divert resources intended for civilians.
By Hezy Laing
As seasonal storms inundated parts of the coastal strip, flooding large numbers of temporary shelters, Israel moved substantial quantities of emergency materials across the border. The IDF and COGAT both reported that more than 91,000 tents plus over 8,200 truckloads of winter gear have entered Gaza under a coordinated preparedness effort.
The same authority that governs Gaza and launched the October 7 attacks is the one that has long pledged Israel’s destruction. The deliveries included tarpaulins, blankets, cold-weather clothing, sewage vacuum trucks for the Red Cross, thousands of vaccine doses for UNICEF, mobile clinics, medicines, medical equipment, and fuel for hospitals.
The effort was coordinated with the U.S.-backed Board of Peace, the United Nations, and various international agencies and donor countries.
How Hamas profits from humanitarian aid
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, has publicly detailed the scale of the extortion. Israel estimates Gaza requires about 250 trucks of supplies each day, yet it routinely allows more than 600 trucks to enter.
Hamas is reportedly collecting roughly $3,000 from merchants on each truck, generating close to $2 million daily for the organization. Earlier assessments by a former senior Shin Bet researcher placed the daily take between $2 million and $5 million through a combination of taxes on incoming goods and the resale of stolen humanitarian supplies on the black market at inflated prices.
The revenue creates dependence and helps Hamas maintain control over the population. Diversion of funds begins well before the crossings.
U.S. authorities have charged a Hamas military wing figure with operating an international fundraising network that solicited donations under the pretext of humanitarian relief for Gaza. The network raised more than $2 million, the majority after October 7.
Similar patterns have appeared in Europe, where authorities have dismantled charities that funneled the bulk of donations intended for Palestinians to Hamas or related groups. The U.S. Treasury has repeatedly sanctioned such networks.
Hamas has a history of diverting reconstruction materials
Hamas has a documented history of converting reconstruction materials into military assets. After the 2014 conflict, cement and building supplies brought in under international mechanisms were repeatedly diverted into tunnel construction.
Israeli forces found UNRWA materials used in those tunnels. Hamas has also dug up water pipes and converted them into rockets, even while Gaza faced water shortages.
European funding for water infrastructure was later shown to have been exploited in this way. The volume of aid—tens of thousands of tents, medical supplies, vaccines, and more than twice the estimated daily requirement of trucks—undermines claims that Israel is pursuing the destruction of Gaza’s civilian population.
The same party accused of genocide is the one facilitating the bulk of the shelter, medicine, and food, while the organization that initiated the current war systematically steals, taxes, and resells the aid meant for the people it claims to protect.
International reports document Hamas interference
Multiple international media outlets, United Nations officials, Palestinian representatives, and intelligence analysts have documented instances of Hamas seizing, taxing, or interfering with humanitarian aid in Gaza.In November 2026, The Telegraph reported that Hamas security units confiscated tents distributed by relief workers to displaced civilians ahead of severe winter storms.
Palestinian sources told the outlet that Hamas seized the shelters to control their distribution for profit and to strengthen its financial position. Investigative outlet Shomrim documented that Hamas generated tens of millions of dollars by imposing fees on incoming trucks, charging up to 50,000 shekels per vehicle depending on the cargo, and by reselling diverted fuel and uncollected humanitarian aid on the private market.
In October 2026, The Jerusalem Post reported that private Gaza merchants temporarily halted truck coordination in protest after Hamas demanded extortion fees of roughly 10,000 shekels per truck.
Armed interference disrupts humanitarian operations
In July 2026, Reuters and The New York Times reported that UN humanitarian operations had to be suspended after armed men affiliated with the de facto authorities forced their way into a food distribution point in northern Gaza and assaulted two truck drivers at a World Food Programme warehouse.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, stated that the July 2026 warehouse incident was not isolated and warned that Hamas-linked personnel had endangered aid workers and disrupted lifesaving operations.
Intelligence assessments detail the scale of aid diversion
According to former Shin Bet research head Neomi Neumann, speaking to The Times of Israel in October 2026, Hamas brings in between $2 million and $5 million per day by taxing incoming goods and selling stolen humanitarian aid on the black market at inflated prices.
A June 2025 intelligence assessment published by the IDF detailed how Hamas systematically diverted an estimated 15% to 25% of incoming aid, extorted protection taxes, and monetized excess supplies to pay operative salaries.
Notably, in July 2025, The New York Times reported that some senior IDF officers acknowledged finding no proof of systematic theft specifically from the UN’s core distribution system at that time, noting that thefts occurred more frequently among smaller, unsupervised aid convoys.
