'Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount,' says Mike Johnson
US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday called images from the Gaza Strip “heartbreaking” but claimed that the Palestinian group Hamas stole aid, despite the Israeli military finding no proof.
"The images are disturbing and heartbreaking. We all want a peace there in that region," Johnson told NBC News' Kristen Welker when he was shown images emerging from Gaza of children starving and questioned Israel's decision to pause military operations amid an international outcry over the hunger crisis.
Johnson said he has spoken to Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and also to other Israeli officials.
“This is important to note: Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food. It’s enough food to feed 2 million people for two years, trying to get that into Gaza. But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount.
"In fact, in 2024, the numbers are that Hamas profited over $500 million in stolen food aid that was supposed to go to these poor people who needed it. That's half of their budget. So this is a broken system," he added.
Johnson said the UN needs to work with Israel to make sure that the food is getting to the people that need it most.
Welker challenged Johnson’s claim, citing a New York Times report that said the Israeli army never found proof that Hamas had systematically stolen deliveries of aid provided by the UN and other groups.
Senior Israeli army officers have acknowledged that there is no evidence that Hamas systematically stole humanitarian aid delivered by the UN during the war on Gaza, Israeli media reported Saturday.
On Sunday, Israel announced plans for localized temporary pauses in fighting to allow aid deliveries through designated safe corridors after scores of Palestinians died of starvation in the blockaded enclave.
Gaza’s hunger crisis has spiraled into a humanitarian catastrophe. Harrowing footage shows severely emaciated residents, some reduced to skin and bone, collapsing from exhaustion, dehydration and prolonged starvation.
Israel has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since a Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border raid that killed roughly 1,200 people.
Israel's military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to severe food shortages.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
