The US spent millions on STD prevention in Gaza. But it was a province in Mozambique

On his second day in office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all foreign aid programs to other countries. He claimed that the previous administration of President Joe Biden had allocated funds to unnecessary aid projects.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt stated at a press briefing on Wednesday that one of these unnecessary projects included the shipment of $50 million worth of condoms and contraceptives to the Gaza Strip. This was despite the fact that Israel has been waging a full-scale war on Gaza for the past 15 months, and has restricted all aid entering the Palestinian enclave.

Leavitt said that the $50 million was discovered by Trump's newly formed government efficiency department, led by billionaire Elon Musk. Trump stated on Wednesday, "We found and stopped a plan to send $50 million to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas." He further added, "They use these condoms to make bombs, it's outrageous!"

This claim by the Trump administration has sparked widespread confusion and questioning. It wasn't until Thursday that an account on the X platform discovered that there was indeed an $83 million US grant for preventing sexually transmitted diseases in Gaza. However, the Gaza mentioned in the grant description was not the occupied Palestinian territory, but a province in Mozambique. Gaza is a rural province in the African nation and also the least populated province in the country, with an estimated population of just over one million.

The grant was awarded to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which conducts various health programs in Mozambique. It is currently unclear if this is the Gaza that the Trump administration was referring to, as there are multiple places in the world named Gaza, including within the United States. Reports from the US Agency for International Development from 2007 to 2023 show no record of any shipments of condoms to the Gaza Strip. Former Pentagon official Dana Stroul stated on X that USAID did not spend any money in the Gaza Strip in 2023.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli authorities have restricted the amount of aid entering the Palestinian territory. The Trump administration has also supported Israel's crackdown on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which provides aid to millions of Palestinians living in several Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring Arab countries.