A new study says the United Nations and other aid groups have repeatedly looked the other way as aid intended for civilians is stolen by terror groups and dictators, from Hamas in Gaza to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Last month, researchers Dr. Netta Barak-Corren of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and Dr. Jonathan Boxman outlined the harmful impact of aid diversion in war zones, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan, before presenting the likely case of diversion in Gaza.

Hamas terrorists carrying clubs and firearms secure humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya on June. 25. (TPS-IL)

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) declined to respond to questions about diversion in other conflict zones or whether aid providers are incentivized to hide diversion from donors. 

A UNOCHA spokesperson said that in Gaza, “we do not have evidence of systematic aid diversion from the U.N. to Hamas. The U.N. and our partners have strict monitoring in place, with oversight on deliveries when enabled to do so.”  

Aid trucks of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) deliver aid near Gaza City.  (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The U.N. and humanitarian groups “have a range of measures in place … to mitigate the risk of aid diversion and provide effective oversight,” the spokesperson said.

Barak-Corren told Fox News Digital that UNOCHA’s “answer demonstrates the exact phenomenon we pointed out in our research, which is that the U.N. prefers to avoid and suppress the issue of aid diversion as a general problem rather than confront it.”

The U.N.’s own figures show that an estimated 88% of aid did not reach its intended destination between May 19 and Aug. 12.

An Israeli military official told Fox News Digital that their issue lies with Hamas “controlling the aid, selling it, getting money out of it, paying salaries, and including [recruiting] other youngsters to fight against us.” 

The official explained that the U.N. is “not paying for it. The world is paying for it, and not being responsible enough in order to avoid Hamas’ hands.” In this way, the official said, “they are assisting Hamas and assisting to make this war longer.”

Reuters contributed to this report.