by JNS Staff
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resumed aid distribution after halting operations due to direct threats from the terror group against its staff and sites.
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Palestinians walk along a road to receive
humanitarian aid packages from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian
Foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 5, 2025. Photo by
AFP via Getty Images. |
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) resumed aid distribution in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after cancelling distribution on Saturday due to what the U.S.-backed organization said were direct threats by Hamas.
One distribution center opened briefly during the morning hours, closing for the day after completing the distribution of food packages, according to GHF. Two more sites were scheduled to open at noon in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah City in southern Gaza.
The aid organization announced on Saturday that it had been unable to distribute food parcels due to “direct threats” by Hamas that “made it impossible to continue working today without endangering innocent lives.”
The statement accused Hamas of “seeking to return to a broken regime it previously controlled and exploited—by diverting aid routes, manipulating distribution processes, and advancing its own agenda regarding the basic needs of the people of Gaza.”
Despite the risks, the foundation stressed that “these threats will not deter the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from its mission to deliver food to Gazans who need it most,” and that it is “intensively modifying our operations to counter these threats” with the aim of resuming aid distribution “without delay.”
Saturday’s closure followed the organization’s announcement that nearly 9 million meals had been delivered since operations began on May 26.
High demand forced two distribution centers in southern Gaza to close early on Friday. The large crowds that gathered early in the day “are impeding our ability to get all available aid to distribution centers,” the GHF posted on its Facebook page in Arabic.
On Friday alone, the group distributed 471,240 meals through 8,160 food parcels, according to its post.
The group further noted that it is “working to increase daily quantities and trucks, aiming to reach 4.5 million meals distributed daily.”
The nonprofit asked Gazans not to arrive before official opening hours and to stay clear of the roads before the centers’ gates are opened.
It also requested that people leave the sites as quickly as possible after receiving a food package, and to allow necessary space for women and the elderly.
Israel welcomed the arrival of GHF as a means of delivering aid directly to Gazan families, thus preventing Hamas from stealing the majority of the supplies.
The U.N. Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee stated on May 30 that “this initiative is an attempt to circumvent the U.N. and its agencies on the ground, foremost UNRWA, that have long delivered humanitarian aid and basic services.”
It further claimed that “GHF fails the test of the humanitarian principles,” and that it was practicing “a policy of deprivation by design.” The United Nations urged Israel to allow UNRWA and other aid groups to reenter Gaza, and it has refused to cooperate with GHF in its effort to supply Gazan families with food.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Friday night that the U.S. State Department is considering granting the GHF a budget of $500 million, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former U.S. officials.
The funds, if provided, would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being absorbed by the State Department, Reuters reported, citing four unnamed sources.
On Thursday, the GHF reopened the two distribution sites in the southern Strip after temporarily shutting them down for “update, organization, and efficiency improvement work” the previous day.
The temporary freeze followed three days of unrest around the distribution sites, where IDF soldiers fired their weapons in the air to control the crowds and Hamas gunmen fired their weapons to discourage Gazans from receiving aid not under their control.
While Hamas has publicly claimed that 61 people were killed and an additional 295 were wounded, the IDF has stated that these numbers are inflated.
GHF head Johnnie Moore said that “false reporting of violence at our sites has a chilling effect on the local population, and we can think of no greater disservice to a community in dire need.”
JNS Staff
Source: https://www.jns.org/ghf-reopens-gaza-aid-centers-after-hamas-threats/
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