Charities urge shutdown of US- and Israel-backed Gaza aid group
Palestinian children line up to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in Nuseirat on 30 June 2025
Al Jazeera reports on 1 July 2025:
More than 130 humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, have demanded the immediate closure of the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), accusing it of facilitating attacks on starving Palestinians.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the NGOs said Israeli forces and armed groups “routinely” open fire on civilians attempting to access food.
Since the GHF began operations in late May, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, and nearly 4,000 wounded, the groups reported.
They condemned the aid mechanism as a violation of humanitarian norms, accusing it of funnelling Gaza’s 2.2 million residents into overcrowded, militarised distribution zones, where they are exposed to near-daily gunfire.
“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the statement said. “Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites.”
Since its launch, the GHF has replaced more than 400 localised distribution points – which had functioned during a brief ceasefire – with only four centralised sites under Israeli military control: Three in Gaza’s southwest and one in the centre. “Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations,” the NGOs said, insisting that GHF “is not a humanitarian response”.
‘Israeli agenda’
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Gaza City, Palestinian civil society leader Amjad Shawa said the aid mechanism is not providing sufficient supplies for hungry families, and also pressures people to move towards southern Gaza.