A newly leaked cache of Hamas security documents offers an unprecedented look at how the group quietly infiltrated, manipulated, and in some cases commandeered international aid operations in Gaza — turning foreign-funded humanitarian projects into tools that protected fighters, concealed tunnel infrastructure, and strengthened its hold over the territory.
The internal files, produced between 2018 and 2022 by Hamas’ Interior Security Mechanism, describe an expansive system in which NGOs were compelled to work through Hamas-approved “guarantors.” Many of these guarantors held senior positions within the NGOs themselves and were identified in the documents as Hamas operatives, sympathizers, or government employees — effectively placing foreign aid efforts under the movement’s direct influence.
One file details how Hamas used a Hamas-linked company to implement an Oxfam water project in a militarily sensitive area near Gaza’s border. Intelligence officers wrote that the project was intentionally designed to conceal nearby “resistance activity” and maintain tactically advantageous terrain. The documents show that humanitarian infrastructure was quietly reshaped around Hamas’ battlefield needs.
The files further reveal Hamas’ systematic censorship of NGO programs. Following the May 2021 conflict, officials ordered Oxfam to remove 13 survey questions because they might inadvertently prompt references to tunnel networks or militia activity. A UN-backed Mercy Corps cash assistance program faced similar restrictions: Hamas deleted questions it feared could expose wounded operatives or identify fighters, and demanded the names of field researchers for security vetting.
The pressure extended deeply into civilian life. A 2022 report recounts an elderly NRC beneficiary asking staff whether his collapsed apartment floor was caused by a tunnel beneath the building. According to Hamas’ documentation, the NGO workers remained silent. Hamas intelligence cited the exchange as an example of how foreign teams avoided probing military activity inside residential areas.
Projects near suspected Hamas military sites were tightly controlled. An April 2022 assessment of an ANERA infrastructure initiative required approval from Hamas military intelligence for any digging plans or field surveys. The donor, Islamic Relief US, was flagged in the files — its global parent organization was designated by Israel in 2014 for alleged Hamas ties.
Across hundreds of pages, Hamas intelligence units discuss surveillance of NGO offices, infiltration attempts, and efforts to “exploit” senior NGO figures for information on foreign staff, funding streams, and operational plans. Officials meticulously catalogued personal details of dozens of aid workers, rating their religiosity, political leanings, and susceptibility to pressure.
Taken together, the documents depict a humanitarian sector operating inside a dense security web — with Hamas rewriting questionnaires, restricting site access, monitoring staff, and blocking any activities that might expose its military infrastructure. They also suggest many NGOs chose silence or compliance over confrontation, producing an aid environment that, at critical moments, served Hamas’ political and military agenda.
The result, the files show, was a foreign assistance system that did not operate independently, but one that Hamas successfully bent to shield its fighters, protect its tunnels, and tighten its control over Gaza.
