Latest news with #JohnnieMoore
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
GHF boss defends Gaza aid operation after hundreds of Palestinians killed near sites
The head of a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid group has defended its work after repeated incidents of killings and injuries of Palestinians seeking Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) boss Johnnie Moore told the BBC World Service's Newshour he was not denying deaths near aid sites, but said "100% of those casualties are being attributed to close proximity to GHF" and that was "not true". He accused the UN and other international organisations of spreading information they could not verify. The GHF aid system has been condemned by UN agencies, and on Friday UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres branded it "inherently unsafe". "Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarized zones is inherently unsafe. The search for food must never be a death sentence," the UN chief Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 injured on their way to get aid since GHF took over aid days of GHF operations starting in late May, dozens of Palestinians were killed in separate incidents on 1 and 3 June, sparking international condemnation. Since then, the UN and aid groups have expressed alarm at the near-daily reports of Palestinians being killed near the GHF's sites, which are inside Israeli military and medics have on several occasions described Israeli forces opening fire on crowds near aid newspaper Haaretz published a story on Friday in which unnamed IDF soldiers said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians near aid distribution sites, to drive them away or disperse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the report calling the allegations "malicious falsehoods".In a statement to the BBC, the IDF said it "did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres".It added it was looking to improve "the operational response" in the aid areas and had recently added new fencing and signage, and opened new routes to reach the handout his part, the head of the GHF said "100% of the casualties are being attributed to the IDF - as best as we can tell that's also not true".In statements over the past month, the IDF have several times said they fired "warning shots" at individuals who they described as "suspects" or claimed posed a threat."We spend an extended period of time trying to understand what actually happened, if anything actually happened and whether there's a way that we can make it less likely to happen," Mr Moore said."In most circumstances we haven't been able to identify anything happening.""People need to understand that it is disinformation that people going to GHF sites are being killed, we have no evidence of that happening in proximity to our sites," he does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, to send journalists into Gaza, which limits our ability to verify what is happening on the ground in the territory. Mr Moore alleged that prior to GHF's operations the majority of UN aid trucks were being hijacked at UN has said there is no evidence for a large-scale hijacking of its aid trucks. When told this, Mr Moore said the "UN is not being honest".The volume of aid entering Gaza is still considered inadequate, despite Israel last month partially easing an 11-week blockade introduced in March. Experts have warned the territory remains on the brink of GHF is hoping to reach the milestone of providing 50 million meals in Gaza, which would equate to less than a meal a day per person since operations pushed on whether food was really getting to the people who needed it most, Mr Moore admitted the operation was "inefficient", but said 50 million meals was more than had been available a month said the GHF needs to scale up and hopefully work with organisations such as the UN."The mission is clear. We just want to feed Gazans," he Thursday, the US State Department announced $30m (£22m; €26m) in funding for the GHF, which is its first known direct contribution to the group. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken than 56,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
The National
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
UN chief says those seeking food in Gaza must not face 'death sentence'
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that any operation that funnels desperate civilians seeking aid into militarised zones in Gaza is 'inherently unsafe', and that 'it is killing people'. While Mr Guterres did not identify any organisation, his comments were seemingly directed at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an entity backed by the US and Israel that has circumvented traditional aid distribution networks to the alarm of the UN and international NGOs. He added that UN-led humanitarian efforts are being ' strangled ', aid workers themselves are starving and Israel – as the occupying power – is required to enable aid deliveries throughout the Palestinian enclave. 'People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Mr Guterres said. Gaza's 2.3 million people face widespread hunger, with many having been displaced several times by the conflict. His comments come after the head of the GHF, Johnnie Moore, said he had sent a letter to the UN chief asking for collaboration through its aid delivery model. In the letter, sent earlier this week, Mr Moore called on the UN to engage 'immediately and directly' with the GHF to deliver food without the use of 'intermediaries, but through a model that has already proven its capacity to reach those in need'. Israel eased a months-long blockade on Gaza last month, but it has allowed only a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the enclave by way of the UN and the GHF. The UN and aid agencies say the GHF is militarising aid, with the sites it has set up for distribution guarded by armed private security contractors. The US and Israel have accused Hamas and other groups of looting aid meant for desperate Palestinians. Despite the presence of the private security contractors, local authorities say that hundreds of people have been killed, most reportedly by Israeli fire, as they approached distribution sites or queued for aid. Israel and the GHF have dismissed reports of widespread violence as a 'disinformation campaign'. The US announced on Thursday that the State Department will allocate $30 million to the GHF's efforts in Gaza. The organisation says it has distributed almost 50 million meals in the enclave so far.
Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
US approves $30 million in funding for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
The US has approved $30 million in funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the State Department said, calling on other countries to also support the controversial group delivering aid in war-torn Gaza . 'This support is simply the latest iteration of President [Donald] Trump 's and Secretary [Marco] Rubio 's pursuit of peace in the region,' State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott told reporters at a regular news briefing. Washington has long backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation diplomatically, but this is the first known US government financial contribution to the organisation, which uses private for-profit US military and logistics firms to transport aid into the Palestinian enclave for distribution at so-called secure sites. Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19th, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid from both the UN and GHF operations. READ MORE Earlier this month, GHF halted aid deliveries for a day as it pressed Israel to boost civilian safety near its distribution sites after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were killed. It says there have been no incidents at its sites. The foundation's executive director, Johnnie Moore, an evangelical preacher who was a White House adviser in the first Trump administration, said in a post on X on Thursday that the group has delivered more than 46 million meals to Gazans since it began its operations in May. Some US officials opposed giving any US funds to the foundation over concerns about violence near aid distribution sites, the GHF's inexperience and the involvement of the for-profit US logistics and private military firms, four sources said earlier this week. The United States could approve additional monthly grants of $30 million for the GHF, two of the sources said, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. In approving the US funding for the GHF, the sources said the State Department exempted the foundation, which has not publicly disclosed its finances, from an audit usually required for groups receiving USAID grants for the first time. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. - Reuters (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
Sky News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
UN data on Gaza deaths 'disinformation', claims head of controversial aid group
The chief of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has called figures by the United Nations on people killed at aid hubs "disinformation". The UN said at least 410 Palestinians have been killed seeking food since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on 19 May, while the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said at least 549 people have been killed. Johnnie Moore, executive director of GHF, told Sky News that there is a "disinformation campaign" that is "meant to shut down our efforts" in the Gaza Strip, fuelled by "some figures" coming out every day. Mr Moore, an evangelical preacher who served as a White House adviser in the first Trump administration, said his aid group has delivered more than 44 million meals to Gazans since it began operations in May. The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the UN and other aid groups, which have refused to cooperate with the GHF. The aid agencies claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system using the GHF will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians. They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. The GHF is distributing food packages, which they say can feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days, in four locations, with the majority in the far south of Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the aid hubs and have to move through Israeli military zones, where witnesses say the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) regularly open fire with heavy barrages to control the crowds. Both figures from the UN and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry say hundreds of people have been killed or wounded. "We're not contesting at all that there have been casualties in the Gaza Strip. I mean, there's no ceasefire. This is an active conflict," Mr Moore said. "I think people may not understand as clearly what it means to operate a humanitarian operation on this scale, in an environment this complex, in a piece of land as small as the Gaza Strip, and may not appreciate that almost anything that happens in the Gaza Strip is going to take place in proximity to something." GHF chief was 'really political, really punchy' in Sky News interview Data and forensics correspondent @chesh It was really political, really punchy, and I think the heart of the matter here is that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is too political. The principle of aid, when applied traditionally, is that it has to be applied neutrally and that is what used to happen. Trucks would go into Gaza, and the UN would distribute that food. Israel, for a long time, said that's not working and they blame Hamas for that. At a briefing by the Israeli prime minister's office yesterday, they were saying that Hamas was still looting those aid vehicles, and it was coming out with a plan to stop that. It didn't provide evidence for that. When we asked for evidence, they said we shouldn't swallow Hamas disinformation. That's a word that's been used. That's very, very political. This is a different model of doing things. And that is the concern: that rather than just handing it over to a neutral body, this is too close to Israel, it's too close to the US, and is backed financially by the US. What does that actually imply? Well, if you're choosing where those sites are, it means people are going to move down there if you're not putting them in certain places. The number of distribution sites has dwindled. It's attenuated. And so, actually, if there are only a few and if there are any in the south of Gaza, that encourages people to move there, that might fit a political goal as well as a humanitarian one. Mr Moore said that the GHF was not denying that there had been "those incidents", but said the GHF was able to talk to the "professional military", the IDF, which would conduct an investigation, while Hamas was "intentionally harming people for he purpose of defaming what we're doing". He said the GHF, "an independent organisation operating with the blessing of the US government", was "achieving its aims" by feeding Gazans. It comes after the US State Department announced on Thursday that it had approved $30m in funding for the GHF as it called on other countries to also support the controversial group delivering aid in Gaza. 2:22 A spokesperson from the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs told Sky News that they are "open to any practical solutions that address the crisis on the ground" and are "happy" to talk to the GHF. The spokeswoman added that the aid distribution in Gaza was not "currently a dignified process and that the format doesn't follow humanitarian principles". She said that people have to walk for miles, and that there is no scalability, with aid not reaching everyone in need.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN data on Gaza deaths 'disinformation', claims head of controversial aid group
The chief of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has called figures by the United Nations on people killed at aid hubs "disinformation". The UN said at least 410 Palestinians have been killed seeking food since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on 19 May, while the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said at least 549 people have been killed. Johnnie Moore, executive director of GHF, told Sky News that there is a "disinformation campaign" that is "meant to shut down our efforts" in the Gaza Strip, fuelled by "some figures" coming out every day. Mr Moore, an evangelical preacher who served as a White House adviser in the first Trump administration, said his aid group has delivered more than 44 million meals to Gazans since it began operations in May. The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the UN and other aid groups, which have refused to cooperate with the GHF. The aid agencies claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system using the GHF will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians. They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. The GHF is distributing food packages, which they say can feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days, in four locations, with the majority in the far south of Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the aid hubs and have to move through Israeli military zones, where witnesses say the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) regularly open fire with heavy barrages to control the crowds. Both figures from the UN and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry say hundreds of people have been killed or wounded. "We're not contesting at all that there have been casualties in the Gaza Strip. I mean, there's no ceasefire. This is an active conflict," Mr Moore said. "I think people may not understand as clearly what it means to operate a humanitarian operation on this scale, in an environment this complex, in a piece of land as small as the Gaza Strip, and may not appreciate that almost anything that happens in the Gaza Strip is going to take place in proximity to something." He said that the GHF was not denying that there had been "those incidents", but said the GHF was able to talk to the "professional military", the IDF, which would conduct an investigation, while Hamas was "intentionally harming people for he purpose of defaming what we're doing". Mr Moore said the GHF, "an independent organisation operating with the blessing of the US government", was "achieving its aims" by feeding Gazans. A spokesperson from the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs told Sky News that they are "open to any practical solutions that address the crisis on the ground" and are "happy" to talk to the GHF. The spokeswoman added that the aid distribution in Gaza was not "currently a dignified process and that the format doesn't follow humanitarian principles". She said that people have to walk for miles, and that there is no scalability, with aid not reaching everyone in need.
