$24 Million for “Resilient Livelihoods” in Gaza. Hamas Still Controls the Economy.

Agriculture. Microenterprise. Job Training. In a Territory Where Hamas Controls Commerce.

USAID’s Gaza Resilient Livelihoods Activity was a $24 million program designed to reduce economic vulnerability in the Gaza Strip through agricultural development, microenterprise support, vocational training, and market access improvements. The program was part of USAID’s broader West Bank and Gaza portfolio and ran alongside the $35.9 million youth development program documented separately.

Gaza’s economy is one of the most aid-dependent in the world. The territory has a nominal GDP per capita under $2,000. Unemployment has run above 40% for most of the past decade. Hamas, as the governing authority, controls business licensing, border crossings, employment in public-sector roles, and access to infrastructure. Any economic development program operating in Gaza operates within the administrative framework Hamas has constructed.

GAO: USAID “Faces Challenges Measuring Results.” That’s the Polite Version.

GAO published a 2024 report titled “U.S. Assistance to the Palestinians: Challenges to Measuring Results and Ensuring Accountability.” The findings documented that USAID could not fully verify program outcomes in Gaza due to security restrictions on in-person monitoring, that partner self-reporting was the primary source of results data, and that USAID had not resolved all outstanding OIG audit findings related to Gaza economic programs.

The practical implication: a $24 million program whose primary accountability mechanism is self-reported data from implementing partners, in an operating environment controlled by a designated terrorist organization, verified by remote monitoring that GAO assessed as insufficient. USAID maintained that the program was compliant with all legal requirements. GAO’s finding was that the evidentiary basis for that conclusion was thinner than agency standards required.

“USAID faces significant challenges in measuring results and ensuring accountability for assistance to the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, where security conditions limit in-person monitoring.”

GAO — U.S. Assistance to the Palestinians: Challenges to Measuring Results and Ensuring Accountability (2024)

The Hamas Attack Did Not Trigger an Immediate Program Termination.

Following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel — which killed approximately 1,200 people, the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust — USAID paused active programming in Gaza. However, the program was not immediately terminated; wind-down costs and close-out activities continued to flow through implementing partners as existing obligations were settled. Active livelihoods programming did not formally terminate until the January 20, 2025 executive order suspended all U.S. foreign assistance.

USAID’s position was that pausing, rather than immediately terminating, allowed for an orderly wind-down that protected partner organizations from abrupt contract breaches and preserved program assets for potential future use. Critics argued that continuing any payment flows to Gaza-based organizations after October 7 — regardless of the legal justification — was indefensible given the circumstances.