Cruz sounds alarm over $400M Hamas-era provision in Board of Peace plan — issues blunt warning

U.S. officials person for years warned that Hamas has exploited ostensibly civilian and humanitarian backing streams to enactment its violent infrastructure, fueling concerns implicit whether wealth entering Gaza tin beryllium kept retired of the panic group's hands arsenic a caller U.S.-backed governing operation prepares to instrumentality control.

The Treasury Department has repeatedly targeted what it describes arsenic Hamas financing networks, including a concealed concern portfolio, sham charities and organizations that raised wealth nether the guise of humanitarian enactment portion supporting Hamas' subject wing.

Those concerns resurfaced this week aft Israel's Kan News reported that a proviso successful the Board of Peace's Gaza roadmap could let up to $400 cardinal to code unpaid obligations accumulated during Hamas' rule, including wealth owed to public-sector workers, suppliers and contractors.

The quality is implicit whether a successor authorities tin settee morganatic obligations inherited from astir 2 decades of Hamas regularisation without indirectly benefiting the violent group. Critics pass that doing truthful could relieve fiscal burdens associated with Hamas' regularisation oregon make opportunities for the radical to siphon disconnected resources portion it retains power connected the ground. Board officials reason the mechanics is alternatively designed to let a successor authorities to sphere indispensable services and relationships with morganatic workers and suppliers — with each assertion individually vetted and immoderate outgo that could payment Hamas rejected.

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U.S. President Donald Trump takes portion successful a charter announcement for his Board of Peace inaugural aimed astatine resolving planetary conflicts, alongside the 56th yearly World Economic Forum (WEF), successful Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace's precocious typical for Gaza, sharply rejected the characterization that the proviso amounted to a fiscal statement with Hamas.

"The claims that determination is simply a fiscal statement betwixt the Board of Peace and Hamas are false," Mladenov wrote successful Hebrew connected X Wednesday, adding that nary specified connection had been "discussed, negotiated, oregon considered." He said the Board's nonsubjective remained the implicit disarmament of Hamas and the constitution of civilian governance backed by an planetary information presence.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that helium remained alarmed by the provision.

"I'm profoundly acrophobic astir these reports. Terrorists usage wealth arsenic fungible and they physique credibility by having planetary donors concern their debts, which is wherefore Congress agelong agone banned wealth from going to Palestinian governments successful the West Bank," Cruz said.

"We besides cognize that planetary donors paid for Hamas to physique violent infrastructure crossed the Gaza Strip successful the archetypal place, and shouldn't beryllium trusted to nonstop reimbursement money," Cruz continued. "Hamas should beryllium utterly eradicated earlier caller resources travel into Gaza."

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Palestinian Hamas terrorists basal defender connected the time of the handover of hostages held successful Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, arsenic portion of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap woody betwixt Hamas and Israel, successful Rafah successful the confederate Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. (Hatem Khaled/File Photo/Reuters)

A elder Board of Peace official, speaking to Fox News Digital connected inheritance Thursday, pushed backmost connected the premise that the roadmap commits $400 cardinal to paying Hamas' debts.

"There's truly conscionable a committedness to analyse erstwhile we get the data. There's nary committedness to money anything. We don't person an work to adjacent bash $400 million," the authoritative said.

The authoritative described the proviso arsenic a three-year reappraisal process, capped astatine $400 million, nether which the successor Gaza medication could find whether peculiar unpaid obligations request to beryllium resolved successful bid to support indispensable services and relationships with morganatic suppliers.

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Palestinians store astatine a crowded Eid al-Adha marketplace successful Gaza hours aft Israel announced the sidesplitting of Mohammed Odeh, the recently appointed caput of Hamas’ subject wing, successful an airstrike successful Gaza. (Credit: Jusoor News)

"This conception that there's, like, a $400 cardinal payoff vehicle, Hamas benignant of has a committedness for it — nary of that is true," the authoritative said. "If anybody's gonna commencement moving with a communicative that a $400 cardinal committed tab is opening present ... that would conscionable beryllium incorrect reporting. That's not the deal."

"No one's picking up a tab close now," the authoritative added, saying immoderate reappraisal would instrumentality spot lone aft the caller Gaza medication gains entree to fiscal records allowing it to find who the creditors are, what services they provided and whether those relationships are needed going forward.

"Even the archetypal dollar of the $400 million, we're going to measure that archetypal dollar," the authoritative said. "It's not going to beryllium a blank cheque handed to Hamas. It's going to beryllium evaluated, rigorously analyzed."

The authoritative compared the process to a firm restructuring, arguing that portion Hamas is being permanently removed from government, the successor medication cannot needfully locomotion distant from each morganatic work accumulated during the erstwhile government's rule.

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Displaced Palestinians stitchery with pots and containers to person blistery meals distributed by charities up of iftar successful Khan Yunis, Gaza Families, including children, hold successful enactment amid hard surviving conditions. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

He offered the illustration of a European pharmaceutical institution that supplied medicine to Gaza hospitals but was ne'er paid. If the caller medication needs that institution to proceed supplying medicine, helium said, resolving immoderate of its unpaid invoices could beryllium indispensable to support the relationship.

"The taxable here, really, is continuity of services," the authoritative said.

Disarmament could precede payments country by area

The authoritative did not accidental that Hamas would person to beryllium afloat disarmed crossed the full Gaza Strip earlier the archetypal assertion could perchance beryllium paid.

"The world is that this is going to beryllium assemblage by community," the authoritative said, explaining that the successor medication is expected to determination into idiosyncratic areas arsenic Hamas disarms there.

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Al-Hayya, Hamas' longtime main negotiator successful indirect ceasefire and hostage talks with Israel, volition present pb its governmental bureau. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images))

Asked whether Hamas would person to beryllium wholly removed from Gaza earlier the caller medication could resoluteness an outstanding liability — for example, involving a infirmary successful Rafah — the authoritative said a outgo could hap adjacent if Hamas had not yet been afloat removed elsewhere successful the Strip.

"The thought is that wherever those decisions are made, Hamas is not gonna beryllium there," helium said.

When Fox News Digital asked specifically whether it was close to accidental wealth would not beryllium transferred into areas wherever Hamas remained successful control, the authoritative said: "It's close to say."

The authoritative acknowledged that much analyzable cases could originate if the aforesaid supplier operates successful some Hamas-free and Hamas-controlled portions of Gaza. Officials mightiness past person to find whether to reimburse lone the information associated with the country controlled by the successor authorities oregon negociate immoderate different statement indispensable to support the service.

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Hamas terrorists basal defender connected the time of the handover of hostages held successful Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, arsenic portion of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap woody betwixt Hamas and Israel, successful Rafah successful the confederate Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. (Hatem Khaled/Reuters)

Board pushes backmost connected fungibility concern

Cruz's cardinal disapproval is that wealth is fungible: if planetary donors fulfill obligations accumulated nether Hamas rule, resources that mightiness different person been needed to screen those liabilities could theoretically beryllium utilized elsewhere.

The Board authoritative rejected that argument, saying Hamas is insolvent and was ne'er going to wage galore of the outstanding creditors successful the archetypal place.

"It's not arsenic though we're alleviating them from, like, their fund that they really were gonna really spell wage that $100 and present they get to prevention it," the authoritative said.

"They were ne'er paying it successful the archetypal place," helium continued. "We're making a determination abstracted and isolated from Hamas, whether this fits into our fund and our relationships."

HAMAS TAPS 'ULTIMATE INSTITUTIONAL SURVIVOR' AS TERROR CHIEF, SENDING MESSAGE TO ISRAEL: EXPERT

Hamas terrorists instrumentality information measures arsenic preparations are completed astatine Nasser Hospital to invited Gazans to beryllium released nether the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner speech woody betwixt Israel and Hamas successful Khan Yunis, Gaza, connected October 13, 2025. (Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The authoritative described Hamas arsenic "dead insolvent close now" and "financially, completely, wholly successful shambles."

Fox News Digital besides pressed the authoritative connected a abstracted concern: adjacent if wealth is ne'er transferred straight to Hamas, could the radical extract taxes, payments oregon different benefits from suppliers oregon employees receiving funds portion it remains equipped elsewhere?

"If there's a hazard that immoderate of the wealth is going to inactive extremity up successful the hands of Hamas, past we're gonna unopen it down," the authoritative said.

He said officials would analyse each recipient, the services provided and wherever the wealth yet would go.

"If Hamas is not afloat disarmed ... tin it extremity up successful their hands? If the reply to that question is yes, past they're not gonna get money," helium said. "Like, that is crystal clear."

The authoritative besides disclosed that the Board intends to effort to retrieve assets it believes Hamas stole and usage those assets, wherever possible, to fulfill morganatic obligations.

"We are going to marque a existent effort to spell and effort to retrieve those assets and usage immoderate of those assets, wherever we person recovered theft ... to fulfill immoderate of these obligations," helium said.

If recovered assets are insufficient, the authoritative said extracurricular backing would travel from countries successful the portion alternatively than Washington.

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Palestinians inspect the tract of an overnight Israeli onslaught connected a medicine warehouse, according to medics, adjacent to tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, successful Deir al-Balah, successful the cardinal Gaza Strip, August 1, 2026, residents had been pre-warned by the Israeli subject to evacuate. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

"This is coming from determination partners. This is not coming from the United States," helium said.