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gaza humanitarian foundation
IDF Opens Fire on Starving Palestinians at Privatized Food Distribution Site
The delivery hub was run by the Israel- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which aid agencies have boycotted.
May 28, 2025
After walking an average of 9.3 miles to an aid distribution hub set up by the U.S.- and Israel-backed private foundation that Israel has allowed to provide humanitarian relief in Gaza, Palestinians on Tuesday faced gunfire from Israeli troops at the site, with at least one person killed and 48 wounded—and rights groups' worst fears about the aid scheme confirmed.
The first day of operations for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has enlisted private U.S. security contractors to help with aid distribution in southern Gaza, came 11 weeks into Israel's total blockade on humanitarian aid.
The blockade has pushed the enclave toward famine and resulted in the entire population facing "high levels of acute food insecurity," according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
With thousands of Palestinian children facing malnutrition and their parents left without any way to help them in recent weeks, crowds of people broke through fencing and rushed toward the distribution site on Tuesday.
Amid the chaotic scene, an Associated Press journalist reported hearing Israeli tank and gun fire and seeing flares from a military helicopter.
Israel has said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not be involved in GHF operations, but told the AP that it had fired "warning shots."
It was not clear whether the reported casualties were the result of IDF gunfire or private contractors working with GHF, which said its contractors "fell back" before returning to the site and resuming aid operations.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Wednesday that the IDF caused the casualties.
"It is through gunshots," Sunghay told reporters in Geneva. "We are trying to confirm what has happened to them in the sense of seriousness [of the injuries]. What we know is that it was shooting from the IDF."
He said the number of injuries and deaths at the distribution point could increase as experts continue gathering information, and noted that Israeli troops have fired on Palestinians who were retrieving humanitarian aid before.
"From January to March 2024, our office has documented 26 incidents where the Israel Defense Forces fired shots while people were collecting humanitarian aid, causing casualties at Al Kuwaiti roundabout and Al Naburasi roundabout," Sunghay toldUN News.
The U.N. and other humanitarian agencies have refused to work with GHF, saying its plan to distribute aid only at four distribution points in southern Gaza—which Palestinians must travel to and from with aid boxes weighing up to 44 pounds—will forcibly displace people who have already been forced to leave their homes and place them in harm's way.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce would not answer questions about whether the Palestinians who travel south for aid would be able to return to their homes or if the operation would expand to other parts of Gaza to reach more starving civilians, many of whom are injured and can't travel easily to distribution points.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the U.N.—which has years of experience providing relief in Gaza—has long been prepared to provide aid to people across the enclave but has been prevented from doing so by Israel's blockade.
"Right now, nearly 180,000 pallets of food and other life-saving aid stand ready to enter Gaza, the hungriest place on earth," he told UN News. "The supplies have already been paid for by the world's donors. It is cleared for customs, approved, and ready to move. We can get the aid in—immediately, at scale, and for as long as necessary."
Jake Wood, a former U.S. marine who was appointed executive director of GHF, resigned this week, saying the Geneva-based group's plan for distributing aid violated the "humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence."
The Washington Postreported Tuesday that the foundation's chief operating officer, David Burke, also resigned. A former U.S. Agency for International Development official has stepped in as interim executive director.
GHF said Wednesday that it was continuing operations, providing food boxes that are expected to feed "5.5 people for 3.5 days, totaling 840,262 meals."
Emma DeSouza, founder of Civic Initiative, reported that the boxes only contain "two bags of flour, some dry pasta, lentils, and biscuits."
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said that "the humanitarian community in Gaza, including UNRWA, is ready" to provide aid safely and effectively to Palestinians.
"We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose," Lazzarini said. "We have the experience and expertise to reach people in need. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards famine, so humanitarian [work] must be allowed to do its life-saving work now."
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US- and Israel-Backed Gaza Aid Scheme Reportedly 'Being Used to Detain Civilians'
"Humanitarian assistance must not be politicized or militarized," said one humanitarian worker.
May 27, 2025
On the first day of operations for the U.S.- and Israel-backed foundation set up to provide aid to Palestinians in Gaza, reports Tuesday indicated that distribution sites descended into "chaos," with desperate people who have suffered increasingly from malnutrition in recent months "corralled" into metal enclosures for hours, U.S. and Israeli forces firing live ammunition, and at least one person reportedly being "kidnapped" by Israeli intelligence officers.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is based in Geneva and staffed by private U.S. security contractors, said it had distributed 8,000 food boxes containing more than 460,000 meals on Tuesday, but some Palestinians said they were hesitant to approach the group's distribution points for fear of being targeted after going through the GHF's facial recognition technology screening process.
Israeli officials have said recipients of the aid will be screened so Hamas members don't obtain food packages, but Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News said there was already a report Tuesday morning of a Palestinian man "being kidnapped when he went to get one of the small boxes of food" at the Muraj Crossing distribution point.
"To our shock, he called us under threat from Israeli intelligence officers, demanding information about one of our relatives with whom we've had no contact since the beginning of the war," said the man's family. "When we were unable to provide the information the army requested, communication was cut off, and we were later informed that he was transferred to a detention center. He is now considered missing."
A humanitarian coordinator in central Gaza toldDrop Site the distribution points are "being used to detain civilians."
The United Nations and aid groups that have long operated in Gaza have boycotted the GHF and warned against its plan to set up distribution points only in the southern part of the enclave, forcibly displacing Palestinians—90% of whom have already been forced from their homes since Israel began its bombardment of the enclave in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October 2023.
"Humanitarian assistance must not be politicized or militarized," Christian Cardon, chief spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross, toldReuters.
Drop Site and Reuters reported that at a distribution point in Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah, order quickly collapsed as Palestinians rushed toward the site to retrieve aid after "waiting for hours in the sun"—and following 86 days of Israel's total blockade on humanitarian aid, which has caused the risk of famine to rise across Gaza and has caused dozens of children to die of starvation, as Israel has also intensified its bombardment.
"This situation constitutes humiliation and degradation of the Palestinian citizen," said Eyad Amawi of the Gaza Relief Committees. "We are talking about tens of thousands across the Gaza Strip who will not be able to access these aid points. A single distribution location in Rafah, in the heart of the military incursion zone, poses significant danger and threat. It will not be effective unless aid distribution is returned to a system managed by U.N.-affiliated institutions—ensuring neutrality, fairness, and inclusivity in the process."
Images posted online showed Palestinians crowded into metal enclosures at the site.
The Israeli news outlet Ynetpublished conflicting accounts, with an Israeli security source saying U.S. forces fired warning shots into the air after a "Gazan mob" entered a "sterile area." Another source said that American security forces "fled the scene" after Palestinians raced toward the distribution point. Channel 12 in Israel reported that an Israeli combat helicopter reportedly fired into the air to disperse the crowd—even though Israel has said its forces would not be involved in GHF's operations.
"No entity can manage the humanitarian scene in Gaza except for U.N. agencies, foremost among them the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East," said Ramy Abdul, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. "Any other parties are engaging in political blackmail and criminal acts, led by the U.S. and Israel."
Drop Site posted a video online showing a large crowd of Palestinian people rushing toward a distribution site without any humanitarian workers appearing to ensure order or provide aid.
BREAKING: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Aid Site in Southern Gaza Descends Into Chaos as U.S. and Israeli Forces Fire Shots
A newly established U.S.-backed aid distribution center in Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah, collapsed Tuesday after Palestinians—starving and waiting for… https://t.co/fIVkv8uP7j pic.twitter.com/9Xzgu8S0fx
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 27, 2025
"The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has left Palestinians without food," said José Andrés, the chef who founded World Central Kitchen, which has provided aid in Gaza, even as Israel has killed some of its workers. "The people that created it are selfish. And now because people are really hungry [they] just stormed the distribution place damaging the fence. It seems a helicopter began shooting."
"The World Central Kitchen
system of kitchens is the way," said Andrés. "Palestinians feeding Palestinians."
The GHF and Israel claimed without evidence that Hamas tried to block Palestinians from reaching the distribution centers.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza's Government Media Office, which is run by Hamas, told Reuters that "the real cause of the delay and collapse in the aid distribution process is the tragic chaos caused by the mismanagement of the same company operating under the Israeli occupation's administration in those buffer zones."
"This has led to thousands of starving people, under the pressure of siege and hunger, storming distribution centres and seizing food, during which Israeli forces opened fire," said Al-Thawabta.
The chaotic first day of operations for GHF came two days after its executive director, Jake Wood, resigned, saying the foundation's plan for aid distribution violated basic "humanitarian principles."
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) said that starving Palestinians were forced to walk an average of 9.3 miles to a distribution point near Al-Mawasi.
"This is the grim reality for Palestinians trapped under siege by the Israeli military: insufficient aid, poorly organized, delivered at gunpoint by military contractors in coordination with the Israeli military," said JVP. "Instead of GHF, established international organizations operating under the U.N. should be granted full, safe, and unlimited access to deliver aid effectively, impartially, and with dignity."
"There is no time to waste," said the group. "Stop funding the Israeli military. End the siege. Let in U.N.-coordinated aid. Demand an immediate cease-fire. End the occupation. Free Palestine."
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Head of US-Backed Gaza Aid Foundation Resigns, Saying Mission Violates 'Humanitarian Principles'
"I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid through all mechanisms," said Jake Wood.
May 26, 2025
A day before a U.S.- and Israel-backed plan to distribute aid in Gaza was set to take effect over the objections of aid agencies that have long served Palestinians in the enclave, the head of the operation announced Sunday that he was resigning over concerns that the mission would violate basic "humanitarian principles."
Jake Wood, a former U.S. marine and co-founder of the disaster relief group Team Rubicon, said in a statement that he had initially thought the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be able to execute a "pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion [of aid], and complement the work of longstanding [nongovernmental organizations] in Gaza."
But the Israel-initiated plan would include working with private contractors, including one run by a former CIA official, to distribute food not across Gaza but in the southern part of the enclave that would be under the control of Israel.
Since the foundation's establishment was announced, humanitarian workers, including experts at the United Nations, have warned that the plan would endanger Palestinians who would be forced to travel on foot to just four distribution points and carry packages of humanitarian aid including food and hygienic supplies back to their families.
"How is a mother of four children, who has lost her husband, going to carry 20kg [44 pounds] back to her makeshift tent, sometimes several kilometers away?" said Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), earlier this month. "The most vulnerable people, including the elderly, people with disabilities, the sick and wounded, and orphans, will face huge challenges to access aid."
Wood evidently arrived at the same question as the day distribution would begin—Monday—drew near, while humanitarian groups and food insecurity experts warned that famine was spreading across Gaza due to Israel's total blockade on aid that began in March near the end of a brief cease-fire.
"It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon," said Wood in a statement announcing his resignation. "I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid through all mechanisms, and I urge all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination."
"It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon."
Having served in Afghanistan, said Hamid Bendaas of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, "I'm sure [Wood is] no stranger to diabolical missions. He had to interface with the Israelis for a month and resigned fundamentally as a conscientious objector."
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation released a statement saying the group's plan set to begin Monday would move forward, "reaching over 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week."
The foundation also suggested Wood had joined the ranks of critics "who benefit from the status quo" and who "have been more focused on tearing this apart than on getting aid in, afraid that new, creative solutions to intractable problems might actually succeed."
United Nations experts have said that in addition to putting Palestinians in harm's way, the plan inherently includes further mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza—about 90% of whom have already been displaced since Israel began bombarding the enclave in October 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said earlier this month that the plan is "at odds with the DNA of any principled humanitarian organization."
Wood announced his resignation a day after World Food Program (WFP) executive director Cindy McCain rejected Israel's persistent claims that food aid is not reaching Palestinians in Gaza because Hamas is diverting and stealing deliveries.
"Listen, these people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in, and they run for it," said McCain. "This doesn't have anything to do with Hamas or any kind of organized crime, or anything. It has simply to do with the fact these people are starving to death."
McCain repeated her call for the international community to put "pressure" on Israel to end its blockade, warning that 500,000 people in Gaza are now "extremely food insecure" and at risk of famine.
More than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition at Gaza's hospitals this year, even as healthcare workers struggle to provide care amid relentless bombings and a lack of medical equipment and medications. Dozens of children have starved to death in recent days, The Guardianreported.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli humanitarian unit, said Saturday that 388 trucks had entered Gaza over the past week—the first aid to arrive since March 2.
That number still falls far short of the 500-600 aid trucks that groups say must enter the enclave every day to provide people with enough food, water, and other essentials—the same amount that served people in Gaza before October 2023.
"We are on the back of 11 weeks of nothing entering the Gaza Strip, no food, no medicines for 11 weeks, nothing apart from bombs," said James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF. "And so today, a week after lifesaving aid was finally allowed into Gaza again, the scale of that aid is painfully inadequate. It looks like a token that appears more like cynical optics than any real attempt to tackle the soaring hunger crisis among children and civilians in Gaza."
Amid the man-made starvation crisis, Israel has intensified attacks on Gaza in recent days, killing at least 46 people on Monday including more than 30 in an overnight bombing of a shelter.
On Sunday, Dr. Tom Potokar, a British surgeon, issued his latest call for Western countries including the U.S. and U.K. to "stop being complicit in this ongoing slaughter and starvation."
"I want to talk about the political class," said Potokar. "They appear on the news shows, give interviews, and try to justify what is happening, sitting in offices safe and sound, well-fed, and surrounded by all the luxuries of modern life. They have no idea how dangerous their words are. They've never been here, they've never seen with their own eyes what is going on, heard the screams, smelled the rotting flesh, shuddered from the constant bombardment. Perhaps if they spent not 20 months, not even one month, but just one day here, they would have the courage and the humanity to speak the truth, to stand up, like so many of us citizens of the world, and use their power to bring this to an end."
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