Sen. Cotton fears $1 billion in U.S. humanitarian aid diverted to Hamas coffers

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons Commons.

by David Isaac

(JNS) — Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) expressed concerns that $1 billion in U.S. assistance fell into the hands of Hamas, accusing the Biden administration in a letter on Oct. 9 of providing the aid despite “indisputable evidence” that it was “always at high risk of diversion” to the Gaza-based terrorist group.

“I write to raise grave concerns about the likely misuse of more than one billion dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid sent to Gaza since October 2023,” Cotton wrote.

Cotton called on Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to suspend the funding based on “credible reporting” that Hamas takes all the aid for itself.

He referred specifically to USAID’s Sept. 30 decision to provide $336 million in additional humanitarian funding for Arabs in the Gaza Strip, and Judea and Samaria, noting that the announcement came on the same day that the United Nations acknowledged that a Hamas leader killed in Lebanon worked for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.

UNRWA, the senator noted, is “a major USAID partner” and after Oct. 7 “remains a chief conduit for U.N. humanitarian assistance in Gaza despite extensive evidence of its ties to Hamas.

“In all likelihood, the Biden-Harris administration has prolonged the Gaza war, allowed aid to flow to Israel’s enemies, and misused taxpayer funds,” Cotton said.

The U.S. Congress cut funding to UNRWA in March, in a one-year ban, following an Israeli intelligence report shared with the U.S. administration that showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated in Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, while 10 percent of the agency’s 13,000 employees in Gaza are Hamas members.

Cotton said USAID continues to work with U.N. agencies despite the “documented concerns about inadequate vetting and possible terrorist ties.

“When American aid flows to Israel’s enemies — who are also our enemies — USAID is guilty of moral failure, strategic catastrophe, and betrayal of the American taxpayer,” he added.

On Oct. 12, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman posted Cotton’s letter to X, commenting: “Trump cut off all U.S. aid to UNRWA. Biden/Harris turned it back on and proceeded not only to waste $1 billion in the past year alone but to provide assistance to Hamas in the process.”

The Biden administration continues to show a readiness to defend UNRWA. In a Security Council meeting an Oct. 9, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “U.N. personnel, including from UNRWA, are vital to the humanitarian response in Gaza.”

She cast doubt on Israel’s assertions that UNRWA and Hamas are linked, saying, “Israel needs to provide UNRWA additional information regarding these allegations.”

Thomas-Greenfield also said the United States has “deep concern” about “the Israeli legislative proposal that could alter UNRWA’s legal status,” referring to bills making their way through the Knesset that would stop the agency from operating in the Jewish state.

There is currently an effort in Congress to restore U.S. funding to UNRWA by Democratic legislators known for their anti-Israel positions.

On Sept. 18, Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), André Carson (D-Ind.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced the UNRWA Emergency Restoration Act of 2024, saying that UNRWA has made commitments “toward complete accountability and reform.”

Among those urging support for the legislation on Jayapal’s website was J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.