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Introduction

As the international community seeks to develop and implement a post-war reconstruction strategy, it is essential to understand how Hamas weaponized aid before October 7th. Based on internal Hamas documents, this report spotlights the terrorist group’s systematic control of foreign NGOs operating in Gaza. 

Hamas operatives describe their surveillance of NGO officials and offices, methods for manipulating foreign-funded humanitarian groups, and the military and intelligence-gathering considerations that guide the limitations they impose on NGO activity. Similarly, the documents reveal that NGOs were complicit in this regime, hiding or downplaying Hamas abuses, and acquiescing to its demands.

Perhaps the most invasive and egregious mechanism, as exposed by these documents, is the “guarantor” system, whereby Hamas requires formal liaisons between its internal security apparatus and the international NGOs. 

The 2018-2022 Arabic-language documents originate from the Gaza Interior Security Mechanism (ISM),1 a unit within the Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS). The documents were removed from Gaza and then declassified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The evidence confirms that NGOs in Gaza do not operate independently or neutrally. Rather, they are embedded in an institutionalized framework of coercion, intimidation, and surveillance that serves Hamas’ terror objectives.

Hamas’ efforts, as described in these documents, complement myriad other stratagems and activities for commandeering international aid, and directing it to its members, sympathizers, and others with whom the organization wishes to curry favor. As previously reported by NGO Monitor, these include inserting Hamas operatives to administrative positions within international NGOs operating in Gaza; generating beneficiary lists for cash-assistance, which are then utilized by the UN and aid organizations; and outright theft.

(For more information, see NGO Monitor’s “European Government Funding for Programs Involving Hamas-Controlled Ministry,” “Hamas Influences UK Funded Gaza Cash Programme,” and NGO Monitor’s May 2024 Written Testimony to the US Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.)

Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS)

All NGOs operating in Gaza are required to adhere to strict Hamas security protocols, which include regular engagement with the terror group’s Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS) and Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), and other ministries relevant for specific projects, such as the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and Ministry of Education (MoE). 

NGOs – both local and international, including ones operating under the auspices of UN projects – are not permitted to provide services or operate projects in Gaza without Hamas’ approval and maintaining an ongoing line of coordination with the abovementioned Hamas ministries.

This framework effectively grants Hamas veto power over humanitarian operations, enabling the regime to block, reshape, and exploit aid delivery based on its political and military priorities. NGOs are compelled to comply, ensuring that their activities do not contradict Hamas’ authority and narrative or obstruct its military agenda.

In other words, this compulsory engagement with MoINS is not a matter of standard regulatory compliance, but rather a Hamas political and security mechanism to control the activities of civil society organizations.

The Role of “Guarantors”

A central mechanism by which Hamas maintains control over NGO activities in Gaza is through “guarantors.” Local Gazans, approved by MoINS, serve as the point of contact between Hamas authorities and NGOs. Hamas requires that such “guarantors” hold senior administrative positions, such as director, deputy director, or board chair, ensuring access to the highest levels of the NGOs’ local branches and operations. 

“Guarantors” also serve another function, allowing Western NGOs to circumvent various government restrictions on direct engagement with Hamas. For instance, an April 2022 Hamas intelligence report2 notes that “American associations present in the Gaza Strip do not engage with the Gaza government directly, but via an intermediate individual” (emphasis added). Although this arrangement is seemingly contradictory – namely, if the guarantor is also an employee of the NGO, how does this avoid direct contact – it appears that both Hamas and the NGOs considered the guarantors as a sufficiently informal backchannel to the terror group. Finally, as described in detail below, Hamas views “guarantors” as potential high-value intelligence assets to gain access to the NGOs’ internal information and operations.

Even more disturbing, according to a December 2022 document produced by MoINS’ Foreign Associations Department3 and reviewed by NGO Monitor, at least ten such “guarantors” who served as senior NGO officials were Hamas members or supporters, or employed by Hamas-affiliated authorities (all quotations and information, including affiliation claims, in the following bullet points taken from the Hamas December 2022 document):

  • MAP-UK’s “administrative director” in Gaza who works in “the positive,” a known term for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades4 and “is affiliated with Hamas and has pledged allegiance to its rule.” Moreover, MoINS detailed that “he is employed in the [Hamas-affiliated] Islamic University [of Gaza],” and that  “his circle of friends is from the Hamas movement.”
  • Human Appeal’s director in Gaza who “is affiliated with the Hamas movement” and has “held several positions and management posts in the [Hamas] movement.” 
  • CIVITAS’ executive director in Gaza who is “affiliated with Hamas” and “pledged his commitment during the First Intifada…was organized with the Da’wa groups of the [Hamas] movement, and he pledged his allegiance to the movement [i.e. Hamas].” 
  • A member of a CESVI “representative body” who is “affiliated with Hamas.”
  • International Medical Corps’ (IMC) Gazan Administrative Director, who “was committed for a long time in the area [for Hamas operations], and was one of the supporters of Hamas. He is currently a Naqib (Hamas rank for captain) in the Daawa in the Sabarin mosque.”
  • Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Gazan Administrative Director, who “supports the Hamas movement but is not affiliated with the movement,” and “He is employed by the government of Gaza and has the rank of Naqib (Hamas rank for captain).”
  • El Baraka Association For Charitable and Humanitarian Work’s Gazan Director who “was affiliated with the Hamas movement in the past and is currently without any affiliation.” He also worked in the past at [Hamas’] Al-Aqsa TV as an accountant.”
  • Rahma Worldwide’s Gazan Director who “is now affiliated with the Hamas movement.”
  • Handicap International’s Gazan Director” is affiliated with the Hamas movement.”
  • El-Amal Rehabilitation Society’s Gazan Executive Director “works as a civilian employee (teacher) in the Government of Gaza.”