The New York Times’ Campaign to Prop Up Hamas

By Amit Segal

The New York Times caused a stir by anonymously quoting “two senior Israeli military officials” who claim that the IDF has no proof of Hamas systematically stealing aid from the UN.

But as is often the case with the Times’ reports on the war in Gaza, this one should be taken with far more than a grain of salt.

Below is my take on the report.

I once called an Israeli politician to inform him he’d been caught red-handed voting twice in parliament. The legislator immediately denied it: “That’s not true!” he protested. But there’s camera footage, I said. “Who are you going to believe,” he snapped, “me or the camera?”

I was reminded of this story yesterday while reading an astonishing report in the New York Times, citing “two senior Israeli military officials” who claim Hamas doesn’t systematically steal humanitarian aid provided by the United Nations.

Who do you believe, the Times indignantly implies: hundreds of documented cases of theft, or two anonymous sources who wouldn’t even reveal their names?

VIDEO: Gazans storming a food truck

First, the idea of a clear separation between UN workers and Hamas is absurd. Hundreds of UNRWA employees have been exposed as Hamas operatives, with dozens participating directly in the October 7 massacre. Just as Israel hosts American military bases and depends on their weapon stockpiles, Hamas relies heavily on UN supplies. Hamas operatives openly guard convoys to their warehouses, systematically skimming off 15-20 percent of the aid (according to verified sources).

Just last month, aid delivered by the UN to northern Gaza was openly redistributed by Hamas members in full view of cameras. Did the Times’ two anonymous sources miss this footage?

Every resident of Gaza knows exactly where Hamas stores the flour it steals from the UN. Last spring, mobs repeatedly stormed Hamas’ warehouses in central and northern Gaza, emptying them of tons of flour. How did Hamas accumulate hundreds of tons of flour, eighteen months into a war, when Gaza itself produces no wheat?

Most aid to Gaza ends up directly under Hamas’ control, where it’s not distributed freely but sold to the public for profit. For instance, a Gazan from the al-Rimal neighborhood recently complained to the head of the Emergency Committee that Hamas confiscated “seventeen sacks of flour and fifteen aid kits,” even though his brother had purchased them from the Rafah municipality for 50 shekels ($15 USD) each.

The New York Times piece is part of a campaign designed not to feed the people of Gaza, but rather to sustain collaboration between Hamas and the UN. If concern for the humanitarian situation in the strip was genuine, they would commend the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of 85 million meals alongside the UN’s aid efforts.

Instead, Hamas fires upon civilians approaching these distribution points, and the UN attempts to obstruct the GHF’s efforts. Now, even the New York Times is aligning itself with two anonymous sources whose existence can’t be verified.

Incidentally, the only named source cited in the article is Hamas itself (officially referred to as the “Gaza Health Ministry”), which claims—without any proof—that nearly 1,100 civilians were killed en route to the American-Israeli aid centers. This is classic New York Times: never question what anonymous Israeli sources say, and always take Hamas at its word.