Records from the Hamas administration in Gaza reveal that the organization weaponized humanitarian aid by exercising systemic coercion and surveillance over foreign NGOs, with aid agencies colluding by covering up or downplaying its atrocities.
We recently became aware of this report and its claims, have investigated them thoroughly, and found them all to be false
Arabic-language documents from the Gaza Interior Security Mechanism (ISM), a unit within the Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS), confirm that NGOs in Gaza do not operate independently or neutrally, an investigation by NGO Monitor found.
The report implicates high-profile European-based NGOs, including Save the Children, Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Human Appeal Australia, CIVITAS, CESVI, Norwegian Refugee Council, Handicap International, International Medical Corps, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Islamic Relief, International Orthodox Christian Charities, and Catholic Relief Services.
Dossier Uncovers “Guarantor” System of Hamas Control
“Perhaps the most invasive and egregious mechanism, as exposed by these documents, is the ‘guarantor’ system, whereby Hamas requires formal liaisons between its internal security apparatus and the international NGOs,” the report published on December 3 stated.
The documents from 2018 to 2022 indicate that the Islamist outfit forced aid agencies to accept Hamas operatives from Gaza as “guarantors” by placing them in senior administrative positions of director, deputy director, or board chair within the NGOs.
The dossier provides the names and personal details of 55 individuals serving as “guarantors” across 48 NGOs. At least ten such “guarantors” who served as senior NGO officials were Hamas members or supporters, or employed by Hamas-affiliated authorities.
An example of such Hamas-NGO collusion is Catholic Relief Services in Gaza, whose director in Gaza is “affiliated with the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] (PFLP),” which is designated as a terrorist organization by the USA, EU, and Canada.
The Hamas records reveal that the financial director of the International Orthodox Christian Charities is a Christian and is affiliated with Fatah. His brother is a commander in the Al-Qassam [Brigades]. His mother works at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
Further, Human Appeal Australia’s director in Gaza “is affiliated with the Hamas movement” and has “held several positions and management posts in the [Hamas] movement.” The CIVITAS executive director in Gaza is “affiliated with Hamas” and “pledged his commitment during the First Intifada…was organized with the Da’wa groups of the [Hamas] movement.”
The “guarantors” not only ensured access to the highest levels of the NGOs’ local branches and operations but also allowed the aid agencies to bypass their governments’ restrictions on direct engagement with Hamas, the 53-page report noted.
Hamas Uses Aid Agencies to Gather Intelligence
Hamas used the “guarantors” as high-value intelligence assets to gain access to the NGOs’ internal information and operations, placing the charities under constant technological surveillance and even insisting on reviewing their finances as part of its intelligence gathering.
MoINS does not permit NGOs to provide services or operate projects in Gaza without its approval, giving it veto power over humanitarian operations, and enabling it to block, reshape, and exploit aid delivery based on its political and military priorities, NGO Monitor reports.
Hamas Does Not Want Jews Working in Charities
The dossier found documents detailing background checks on other NGO officials, and raising concerns about NGOs that employ Jews in key administrative positions. A June 15, 2020, MoINS memo lists the fact that Oxfam’s “media and public relations head is of Jewish descent” as one of the NGO’s “threats and insecurities.”
In another report, dated June 28, 2020, MoINS reported that it shut down the offices of
International Medical Corps “for a week because it refused to submit financial and
administrative reports, and it reopened it [the NGO] after it did so.”
A March 2020 MoINS document identifies multiple NGOs as targets for Hamas security and espionage efforts, viewing them as “security dangers and a threat.” It calls for putting these agencies “under constant technological surveillance” and infiltrating the NGOs’ headquarters and their employees, technologically and by human sources.
The Hamas memos also list the “guarantors” of some NGOs like Doctors Without Borders—Belgium, Action Against Hunger, ANERA, Norwegian People’s Aid, Première Urgence Internationale, and CARE International as “not cooperating,” indicating that they only agreed to be coopted into the guarantor system after being pressured, the dossier explained.
Hamas also gathered detailed intelligence records on the “guarantors,” collecting personal information on religious observance, specific financial transactions (legal and through Islamic finance channels), relationships, correspondence, professional background, political activity, and affiliations (including with designated terror groups), and criminal backgrounds.
Excerpts from the intelligence reports include: “She leaves her house in exposed clothing that transgresses sharia law.” “She wears clothes in line with fashion due to her work.” “She has a very strong personality and is not susceptible to pressure and extortion.” “He is morally corrupt.” “He hates the Hamas movement.” “His religious observance is low.” “He is a communist.”
Mordechai Kedar, a military intelligence expert and academic at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, explained to Focus on Western Islamism (FWI), part of the rationale behind Hamas’ extensive control over Western aid agencies.
According to Hamas, as it is viewed by other Muslim Brotherhood ideologues, the ultimate objective of Islam is control and dominance. Islam should govern everything and everybody, and Hamas is the embodiment of Islam in Gaza. They consider their rule over the Gazans as fulfillment of Allah’s will, even if it is carried out by force. Every objection deserves the harshest punishment, death included, even against Muslims.
Some Charities Respond
In response to the report, the Norwegian Refugee Council accused NGO Monitor of spreading dangerous falsehoods about its work in Gaza, declaring, that it “has no indication that we have ever employed anyone who had been appointed by Hamas” and that NRC has never been controlled by any armed group in Gaza. A spokesperson for the International Medical Corps stated, “We recently became aware of this report and its claims, have investigated them thoroughly, and found them all to be false,” while directing FWI to its website for more information. FWI will post further responses from the organizations named in NGO Monitor’s report as it receives them.
