The House of Representatives Israel aid bill is under scrutiny for including more than $9 billion in humanitarian assistance, which is significantly more than the annual gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip, as critics say the U.S. is essentially funding Hamas through the bill.
The Israel bill, which passed in a 366-58 vote Saturday, allocates $26.4 billion in aid to the region, including more than $9.1 billion marked as "Migration and Refugee Assistance" and "International Disaster Assistance," to address the humanitarian needs that arose in the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The aid is more than four times the amount of the annual GDP in the Gaza Strip, which was about $2 billion last year, according to the United Nations.
While the Israel funding bill calls for the Secretary of State to establish oversight measures to ensure that the aid is not diverted by Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group, the fact that Hamas is the elected government of the Gaza Strip poses a significant challenge to oversight.
"We are funding Hamas. Do you realize the nightmare of this? We are funding Hamas with this 9 billion. What is wrong with this administration?" Klein also said.
Ramzi Awda, the secretary-general of the International Campaign to Combat the Occupation and Apartheid, said during a Palestinian television interview that Hamas has been stealing aid to resell it.
The aid trucks enter Gaza after being checked by the Israelis and an "Armed militia of Hamas" seizes the aid, Awda said earlier this month on Al-Awda TV, a network associated with the Fatah Party that rules the West Bank, according to The Middle East Media Research Institute.
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