A Gaza-based nonprofit tied to the son of a Hamas leader received nearly $1 million in aid from the US government — with one grant arriving less than a week before the Oct. 7 terrorist strikes on Israel, according to a report.
Bayader for Environment and Development Association has secured $900,000 from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) over seven years. The most recent grant, for $15,219, was paid out on Oct,.1, 2023, six days before the Hamas attacks on Israel which left 1,200 Israelis dead.
Bayader, which works to help children and rehabilitate polluted areas in Gaza, according to its website, is associated with Abdul Salam Haniyeh — a son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who organized the terror attack on Israel, according to a report last week from Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank.
“Hamas keeps an artificial distance between its leadership and these charities exactly so grants such as this USAID money and Islamic Relief funding is made possible,” said Sam Westrop, director of Middle East Forum’s counter-terrorism program. “In practice, however, these charities operate as arms of Hamas, building its infrastructure projects.”
The charity was started in 2007 in the city of Khan Unis on the Gaza Strip, shortly after Hamas took over the region.
Bayader operates in “close cooperation” with the Hamas regime, the think tank said, citing a 2021 annual report from the organization that noted multiple meetings and coordination with Hamas leaders.
The charity’s financial director, Abd Rabbo Saeed Abu Haddaf, publicly mourned the November death of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Ahmed Abu Deka, whom he referred to as a “brother and friend.” Abu Deka served as deputy commander of the Al-Quds Brigades’ rocket forces, the Middle East Forum said.
Bayader “project coordinator” Ahlam Jama shared social media posts mourning the death of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata in 2019.
The group, which has been receiving cash from USAID since 2016, got its largest single payout from the federal government agency in 2021, a sum totaling $423,736.
Bayader’s cash is routed through a group of US nonprofits, which are required to thoroughly vet the foreign organization that receives the grants.
US charities that have acted as sponsors for Bayader include Catholic Relief Services, International Medical Corps and Global Communities, according to public records.
Catholic Relief Services was the sponsor on the USAID grant to Bayader in Oct. 2023, public records show. The grant was earmarked for a program to work for reconstruction in Gaza, according to Catholic Relief Services.
In a social media post, USAID praised Bayader’s work in the West Bank and Gaza last year, and one of its veteran officials, Jonathan Kamin, even posed with the charity’s leaders in Gaza. The agency, which doles out aid to developing countries around the world, is headed by former UN ambassador Samantha Power, who oversees a budget of more than $63 billion a year.
Abdul Salam Haniyeh, one of Haniyeh’s 13 children, is also a senior member of Hamas and a member of the terrorist group’s Sports Authority, according to reports. His official government title is Assistant Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports.
Although he does not have an official position with the Bayader charity, he was seen posing at the inauguration of a sports facility sponsored by the charity in Khan Unis in February 2023, alongside members of Islamic Relief, a UK-based nonprofit with offices in 45 countries, according to its website.
The older Haniyeh, the overall leader of Hamas, is designated as a terrorist by the US. A former Palestinian prime minister, he was elected head of Hamas’ political bureau in 2017. He is currently living in exile in Qatar, according to reports.
Bayader has also received funding from charities in other western countries, including Canada, the Netherlands and the UK.
At least $500 million of Hamas’ revenue comes from charities around the world, according to Middle East Forum.
Neither Bayader nor USAID returned requests for comment Tuesday.