Humanitarian groups seek end to Israeli-backed aid system in Gaza

LONDON

Palestinians gather at an aid distributution point set up by the privately-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 25, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Over 150 international charities and humanitarian groups on July 1 called for disbanding a controversial Israeli and U.S.-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza because of chaos and deadly violence against Palestinians seeking food at its sites.

More than 165 major international charities and non-governmental organizations called for an immediate end to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the U.S. and Israel have backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.

“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the group said.

Their call was the latest sign of trouble for the GHF, a secretive initiative headed by an evangelical leader who is a close ally of Trump.

The GHF started distributing aid on May 26, following a nearly three-month Israeli blockade that pushed Gaza’s population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine.

The GHF has called for Israel's military to investigate allegations from Gaza’s Health Ministry that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed at or near its distribution centers over the past month. Last month, the organization said there has been no violence in or around its centers and that its personnel have not opened fire.

In a statement on July 1, the organization said it has delivered more than 52 million meals.

“Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza,” it said.

The joint statement by groups including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International came as at least 10 Palestinians were killed while seeking desperately needed food, witnesses and health officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.

The GHF is the linchpin of a new aid system that wrested distribution away from aid groups led by the U.N. The new arrangement limits food distribution to a small number of hubs guarded by armed contractors. Four hubs are set up, all close to Israeli military positions. Palestinians often must travel long distances to them.

Israel demanded the alternative plan because it accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid. The U.N. and aid groups deny there is significant diversion. They reject the new mechanism, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is not effective.

Israel's military said it recently took steps to improve organization in the area.