3 days ago
GHF: Aid Under Bombing, Funding Suspicions, and Deadly Ambushes
By: Rami Mohammad
While the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' (GHF) regularly announces the quantities of aid it distributes in southern and central Gaza, growing anger is rising among the families of victims and the injured, who accuse the organization of complicity in mass killings during distribution operations.
This comes amid a total disregard for documenting the number of deaths and injuries caused by repeated bombings near aid centers.
According to eyewitnesses and local sources, over 500 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured—some permanently disabled—while attempting to reach food distribution points. Despite this heavy toll, the foundation continues its operations amid accusations of chaos, lack of transparency, and neglect for civilian safety.
Affected citizens, along with national and Islamic factions and Palestinian and international human rights institutions, are calling for an immediate investigation into the foundation's work and for a halt to what they describe as its 'deadly' activities. They point out that most victims are youth under 30, raising concerns about a targeted attack on Gaza's younger population.
Abu Shaker Imran, the father of one of the injured, told Palestine Online: 'My son went looking for aid and came back with an injured leg. He told me he narrowly escaped death and swore never to return there, even if he starves.'
Imran added that the foundation deliberately conducts its aid distributions at night, under the cover of darkness, to keep the media and cameras away and prevent documentation of the bombings and gunfire targeting crowds trying to receive aid.
He stressed that this policy reflects a clear failure in humanitarian operations, where distributions are conducted without a clear database or proper targeting of beneficiaries and geographic areas.
Similarly, citizen Samih Azzara noted that chaos has become the dominant feature of the scene, adding:
'Greed is also worsening the crisis. Some people go just to collect aid and resell it at high prices for personal gain, while those truly in need remain deprived.'
In another incident highlighting the dangerous situation, young man Wasim Abu Abdu described a violent assault he faced while returning from an aid point: 'As I was carrying a bag with some aid items, I was confronted by a masked group. They tore the bag apart, and when I resisted, one of them slashed my hand with a knife. The pain forced me to drop everything and run.'
These testimonies come as warnings grow about how the foundation's operations are creating a chaotic and dangerous environment, with no effective oversight from humanitarian or official bodies. Aid points are turning into zones of exploitation and lawlessness.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was established in early 2025, with U.S.-Israeli funding, operating outside the UN framework. According to international reports and investigative journalism, the foundation receives an estimated $500 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in addition to undisclosed financial support from Western countries and direct funding from Israel's Ministry of Defense and companies linked to the Mossad intelligence agency.
This complex funding web has raised serious questions about the foundation's neutrality and integrity, especially after the resignation of its founding executive director, Jake Wood, one day before operations began. Wood cited a 'lack of humanitarian principles and distribution neutrality' as his reason for stepping down.
Additionally, Boston Consulting Group withdrew from the project due to 'non-transparent political interference and excessive costs with no accountability.'
In its first official response, the United Nations expressed 'deep concern' about the politicization of aid, warning that 'turning food into a political weapon threatens humanitarian security in Gaza' and violates international law.
Palestinian and international human rights organizations have increasingly called for holding the foundation accountable and for halting what activists describe as 'open ambushes'—turned into mass-death traps under the guise of humanitarian assistance.
