Hamas’ internal corruption was once again dragged into the open this week after a Gaza-based activist revealed that the terror group had secretly hoarded tons of baby formula and children’s nutritional shakes—at the very moment international agencies and major media outlets were accusing Israel of causing famine. Footage posted by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a U.S.-based Palestinian activist originally from Gaza, showed crates stacked floor to ceiling inside a warehouse controlled by the so-called Gaza Ministry of Health. The supplies were labeled as humanitarian shipments designated for infants and malnourished children.
Alkhatib described the scene plainly: Hamas had hidden massive quantities of food for children while pushing a public narrative that Gazans were starving because of Israel. His claims matched long-standing reports from Israeli officials and independent observers who warned for months that Hamas was diverting aid and manipulating suffering to score political points.
Alkhatib wrote that during “the worst of the days of the hunger crisis,” Hamas hid “literal tons of infant formula and nutritional shakes for children” in clandestine warehouses, worsening conditions to strengthen the group’s narrative of famine. He said that Gaza activists documenting the warehouses were now finding significant quantities being thrown away, since the humanitarian landscape in the Strip had become saturated with aid after the recent ceasefire.
His words carried weight inside Gaza, where he said residents understood precisely what had been done. “Countless other Palestinian activists and I from Gaza said this back in July, August, and September,” he wrote, describing the backlash they faced from Hamas-aligned networks. He added that Western activists ignored the terror group’s manipulation of public opinion and refused to confront “the suffering that the terrorist organization’s own actions have led to and created.”
UN agencies themselves have acknowledged theft inside Gaza. UNICEF issued a formal statement in March condemning the seizure of “life-saving therapeutic food” essential for malnourished children. The UN later documented violent hijackings of aid trucks, with armed groups intercepting convoys, overrunning distribution points, and diverting supplies.
The famine narrative itself has been widely challenged. Despite early warnings, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was established with American support, reported distributing more than 187 million meals and aid packages over five months of operations. The organization concluded its work after the ceasefire and the release of all living Israeli hostages. Throughout its operations, Israeli officials insisted that they facilitated large volumes of humanitarian shipments and that Hamas theft, road blockages, and internal violence between armed groups caused localized shortages.
Inside Gaza, residents repeatedly reported that Hamas and affiliated gangs sold humanitarian food on the black market at extreme prices. Flour, diapers, and canned goods were routinely marked up beyond what ordinary families could afford. Beirut-based outlets documented that Hamas members seized shipments before distribution and resold items in private markets. Gazans who attempted to reach GHF distribution centers frequently encountered Hamas roadblocks, threats, or violence. During these months, Hamas spread accusations that Israel was firing on civilians waiting for aid, while refusing to explain its own obstruction.
The newly released video further reinforces the pattern. Crates of baby formula, unopened and untouched, sat hidden away, while international media circulated images of starving children and placed the blame exclusively on Israel. Stand With Us posted the footage with a blunt summary, stating that the stash revealed a conscious move by Hamas “designed to inflict greater suffering and perpetuate images of hunger” for propaganda.
Israel has long argued that famine claims were inflated and politically engineered. Alkhatib’s revelations align exactly with that assessment: Hamas seized control of food distribution, hoarded goods, and used civilians as leverage to pressure international organizations to restore UN-controlled systems that the terror group could more easily manipulate.
