Tom Cotton Sounds Alarm about ‘Likely Misuse’ of over $1 Billion of U.S. Aid to Gaza By James Lynch
Republican Senator Tom Cotton (Ark.) suspects more than $1 billion of humanitarian aid intended for Gazan civilians fell into Hamas’s hands and is calling for the federal government to suspend the aid until it can rectify the problem.
Cotton wrote a letter to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power Wednesday asking her to consider cutting off the humanitarian aid because of the possibility it is being diverted to Hamas.
“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 said. Cotton is a strong supporter of Israel and an advocate for an assertive U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
He specifically criticized the USAID’s decision last month to approve $336 million of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Judea, and Samaria on the same day the United Nations confirmed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employed a Hamas operative killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Bolstering Cotton’s concerns is a USAID inspector general report published in July describing how the agency failed to conduct basic due diligence on many of the organizations it sends taxpayers dollars to.
National Review has reached out to USAID for comment on Cotton’s letter.
“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,” Cotton concluded.
“You should immediately suspend all aid until taking credible and serious steps to stop Americans’ tax dollars from funding terrorists.”
Hamas’s suspected ties to UNRWA recently prompted congressional lawmakers to cut off U.S. funding for the UN outfit, one of the main vehicles for sending humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians Hamas throws into the crossfire of its conflict against Israel. Anti-Israel progressives strongly opposed defunding UNRWA despite credible evidence suggesting the organization has employed several Hamas operatives.
The war between Israel and Hamas recently passed the one-year mark as the world mourned the innocent civilians Hamas slaughtered and took captive during the October 7, 2023, massacre. Israel is also ramping up its fight against Hezbollah to its north and defended itself last month against a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles.
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