Activity

• The United States funds non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating abroad primarily through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.
• In January 2025, the Trump Administration froze USAID funding and indicated plans to fold the agency into the State Department.

Transparency

• US funding to conflict areas suffers from a lack of transparency.
• The US has earmarked substantial funding for humanitarian efforts in Gaza.  According to a November 2024 statement by the State Department, the US has provided “over $2.1 billion in humanitarian assistance since October 7, 2023.” 
• However, a substantial portion of this funding is non-transparent. Based on usaspending.gov – an official website that tracks federal spending – USAID and the State Department allocated or provided approximately $200 million to organizations labeled as “miscellaneous foreign awardees” operating in the West Bank and Gaza in 2024. The organizations receiving this US taxpayer support – and/or their local partners – are not identified.¹
• Similarly, according to usaspending.gov, since 2021, the US has provided $753,554,182 to organizations labeled as “Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees” for operations in Yemen.

Aid Diversion by Terrorist Organizations

• US funding to multiple conflict zones suffers from susceptibility to diversion by terrorist organizations.
• In Gaza, USAID-funded NGOs have partnered with the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) in selecting beneficiaries for cash assistance programs. (For more information, see NGO Monitor’s report, “US-funded NGO Aid Benefiting Hamas: Mercy Corps and ANERA Operations in Gaza”.)
• On October 13,2024, a video was circulated of a Hezbollah weapons cache seized by the IDF in Lebanon. Among the items displayed was a package bearing the logos of USAID and the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP)
• In Yemen, exemptions to Treasury Department sanctions allowed US-funded NGOs to directly engage with Houthi terrorists and Houthi-controlled institutions, including by making payments to them
  • The State Department provided Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) with $1.1 million from August 2023-September 2024 for operations in Yemen.
  • In April 2018, NPA settled a civil fraud case with the Justice Department and USAID. The suit charged NPA with a violation of the US False Claims Act related to its providing material support to Iran and Palestinian terror groups – including Hamas
• For more information, see NGO Monitor’s report, “US Yemen Policy: The Threat of Aid Diversion.”

Funding to NGOs Promoting Terrorism and Violence 

• Several US-funded NGOs operating in the West Bank and Gaza – as well as their leading officials – have celebrated members of terrorist organizations and supported violence against Israeli civilians.
• The State Department provided $30,088 to the Phoenix Center for Research and Field Studies in Gaza for an August 2023-July 2024 project and an additional $60,000 for a September 2023-August 2024 project. On its website, Phoenix discusses several conferences and panels it hosted, during which it supported “armed resistance” against Israel – a euphemism for terrorism. Several senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad – a US-designated terrorist organization – participated in these events.
  • (For more information on the Phoenix Center, read NGO Monitor’s report, “New State Department Grantee Supports “Resistance,” Partners with Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leaders.”)
• In 2022, USAID provided funding to more than 20 Palestinian NGOs, via its Civic Participation and Community Engagement (CPCE) framework, intended to advance “basic democratic freedoms and common goals shared between the American and Palestinian people.” Several board members and officials from CPCE partner organizations operating in the West Bank celebrate terrorists and glorify violence. In multiple instances, USAID sub-grantees ran programs that introduced children to convicted terrorists, presented convicted terrorists as role models, and publicly demonstrated support for terrorists and terrorist organizations. (For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report, “USAID 2022 West Bank and Gaza Grantees Vetting Gaps Remain.”)
•  NGO Monitor’s 2021 report “USAID-funded Palestinian NGOs: Introducing Children to Convicted Terrorists” includes myriad examples of US-funded NGOs presenting convicted terrorists as role models, praising specific acts of terrorism, and encouraging children to support violence, hostage taking, and incarcerated terrorists.
• In January 2021, the US State Department cut ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide due to “anti-Semitism exhibited repeatedly by IRW’s leadership.”
  • On June 19, 2014, Israel’s Defense Minister declared IRW to be illegal, based on its alleged role in funneling money to Hamas, and banned it from operating in Israel and the West Bank. According to news reports, the decision was made after “the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the coordinator for government activities in the territories, and legal authorities provided incriminating information against IRW.”
  • Since 2006, Islamic Relief Palestine (IRPAL) has cooperated with the Al-Falah Society. According to the Meir Amit Institute, the Al-Falah Society Charitable is one of “Hamas’s charitable societies.” Al-Falah is run by Ramadan Tanboura – according to Haaretz, a “well-known Hamas figure.” According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Hamas held a reception for Tanboura “on his return from an eight-month fund-raising trip to the Gulf States. Senior Hamas figures also participated.”

Funding to NGOs Engaging in BDS

• Since 2020, the US has allocated hundreds-of-millions in taxpayer funds to NGOs targeting US companies for divestment and boycott due to their business relationships with Israel. This includes campaigns directed at specific companies, as well as advocating on behalf of the discriminatory UN database of businesses operating across the 1949 Armistice line. (For more information, see NGO Monitor’s report, “US-funded NGOs Praising Terror, Harming US Companies, and Supporting the ICC”.)