While Israel Buried Its Dead, the Biden Administration Wrote Checks to Hamas and UNRWA

The ACLJ previously filed two separate FOIAs to get to the bottom of the Biden Administration’s funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). When the Biden Administration suspended that funding in January of 2024 – after the IDF reported that 12 UNRWA members had directly participated in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel – it had already funneled close to $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer money to UNRWA, and with Hamas in full operational control of Gaza, therefore to Hamas, since 2021.

What the ACLJ Demanded

In February 2024, the ACLJ filed a FOIA requesting that the Department of State (DOS) produce:

1. All records received from UNRWA to DOS Headquarters or the DOS Office responsible for Gaza since October 7, 2023.
2. All DOS records sent to the Senate and House Foreign Relations Committee regarding UNRWA.
3. All UNRWA-related records in the custody of Secretary Antony Blinken and/or his executive assistant(s).
4. All records from the DOS liaison to the White House about UNRWA staff.
5. All records in the possession of the DOS office responsible for Gaza containing: “UNRWA” and “Hamas” or “Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
6. All records held by the same office containing: “UNRWA” and “tunnel” or “tunnels.”

You can view the full FOIA here.

When the DOS failed to respond, as required by statute, the ACLJ sued. After completing the legal process, the DOS began producing records.

One initial production included an email dated November 6, 2023 – less than a month after the October 7 attacks – showing that humanitarian aid negotiations for Gaza were already underway at the very highest levels of the U.S. government.

Now, records produced on December 30, 2025, reveal the full picture.

The records show that between the start of the Biden Administration and President Biden’s final day in office, the U.S. had provided more than $1.1 billion in humanitarian assistance to UNRWA across five fields of operation.

The records also show that since October 7, 2023, the date of Hamas’ assault on Israel, the Biden Administration had disbursed nearly $88 million into Gaza and the West Bank and pledged $100 million more in humanitarian aid by November 28, 2023 – in those initial 52 days.

While any honorable Administration would have been mourning the dead and plotting justice, the Biden Administration was busy writing checks to the enemy.

More precisely, USAID had disbursed $11 million in food assistance through the U.N. World Food Program, $8 million in logistics support through the same, and $2,953,919 in multi-purpose cash assistance, plus program support through a “local partner,” for a total of $21,953,919 in USAID funding.

The DOS distributed an additional $66 million: $51 million for food assistance, health, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), non-food items (NFIs), and protection; and $15 million for protection, health, NFIs, and multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) across Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Combined with USAID’s contribution, the total disbursed came to $87,953,919.

Nor was there any plan to stop the aid, one record states :

On November 28, the United States began airlifting 70 metric tons, more than 150,000 pounds, of humanitarian supplies to provide vitally needed medical supplies, warm clothing, and food and nutrition assistance to the people of Gaza. The supplies began arriving November 28 in Egypt via a C-17 aircraft to then be distributed by USG humanitarian partners, including WFP, UNICEF, and UNRWA. This is the first DoD flight for the response and is in addition to multiple flights of food aid delivered by USAID in previous weeks. More flights will be arriving in the coming days.

Noticeably, there is little discussion nor concern about preventing this from falling into Hamas’ hands or any indication of concern about potentially funding the war. We will keep you posted on further developments.