The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was established in February 2025. Its name began circulating around the same time the United States announced a new system for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza in early May. The Foundation started distributing aid at the end of that month, operating through a limited number of distribution centers at the time of this report.
What Does the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” Claim?
The “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” Foundation states that it is “committed to delivering urgent and essential food assistance to the people of Gaza in a safe and direct manner” and claims to work “in collaboration with NGOs and Palestinian local communities.”
It emphasizes that it ensures “food reaches those in dire need urgently and safely, without any interference, through a neutral, transparent, and independent process.” It also says it is working on “establishing a reliable, safe, and scalable infrastructure to meet urgent humanitarian needs.”
The Foundation claims its aid distribution sites—referred to as “SDS”—are designed to ensure “maximum safety and accessibility for all residents of Gaza, including women and children.” For those unable to reach these centers, it says it is “actively developing alternative safe routes to deliver food through trusted Palestinian partners.”
Public Messaging to Gazans
On social media, the Foundation shares updates about which distribution centers are open or closed, distribution schedules, guidelines for receiving aid, and warnings not to approach centers before they open. It also publishes daily reports on its aid distribution efforts.
These reports are titled with the number of “meals” distributed, which, according to the latest update on 21 July 2025, had exceeded 82 million meals since operations began.
However, a closer examination reveals that labeling the reports by “meals” serves to exaggerate the scale of the aid. The actual number of daily food parcels distributed is around 25,000—meaning that, even under optimal conditions, only around 25,000 families benefit per day.
Claim 1: Delivering Food Safely and Urgently — Reality:
According to the United Nations, 798 people were killed near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers between the start of its operations in late May and July 7, including 615 people in the immediate vicinity of the centers. UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said others were “likely killed along aid convoy routes.”
Gaza’s Government Media Office reported on July 20, 2025, that Israeli forces had killed 995 civilians attempting to receive or wait for food aid, and 6,011 others were injured, with 45 missing during the same period.
On 21 July 2025, Gaza’s Civil Defense reported that at least 93 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for aid, most in northern Gaza.
A July 22 report from Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that 1,026 people were killed and 6,563 injured while waiting for aid and reaching hospitals.
On July 22, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the images of civilians killed during aid distribution in Gaza were “unbearable” and renewed the EU’s call for free, safe, and rapid humanitarian access and adherence to international law.
In Geneva, 171 NGOs issued a statement calling for the termination of the Foundation’s operations, saying:
“Palestinians in Gaza are faced with an impossible choice: either starve or risk being shot while desperately trying to feed their families.”
Signatories included Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Amnesty International.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke said on June 13, 2025:
“From a humanitarian principle standpoint, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has failed. They are not fulfilling the core humanitarian task: delivering aid safely where people are.”
Key UN agencies and major NGOs, especially international ones, refused to cooperate with the Foundation.
On 28 June 2025, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared:
“The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is inherently unsafe and is killing people. Seeking food should not be a death sentence.”
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor demanded on 12 July 2025, an immediate shutdown of the Foundation and an independent international investigation to prosecute its officials for alleged “systematic mass killings” at its distribution sites.
The Monitor also stated that Israeli forces imposed the Foundation as a replacement for the previous UN-run aid mechanism, and in under two months, Israeli and U.S. security forces killed at least 829 Palestinians and wounded around 5,500 near the distribution centers.
The World Food Programme said on 21 July 2025, that Israeli forces opened fire on hungry Palestinians approaching one of its aid convoys in northern Gaza, with the convoy being targeted by tanks, snipers, and other weapons.
WFP called for an immediate halt to such shootings, highlighting the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations must function in Gaza.
On 20 July 2025, the German Foreign Ministry said the new distribution mechanism used by the Foundation “clearly fails to adequately reach the civilian population” and does not follow humanitarian principles.
Claim 2: Building Reliable, Safe, and Scalable Infrastructure — Reality:
MSF (Doctors Without Borders) called for the Foundation’s shutdown on 27 June 2025, citing “repeated massacres,” saying over 500 people were killed and nearly 4,000 wounded while trying to reach its aid centers.
MSF emergency coordinator Aitor Zabalgo-Guiascoa said the four Foundation distribution sites—located in areas under full Israeli control after forced displacement—were “the size of football fields, surrounded by watchtowers, earth berms, and barbed wire,” with only a single entrance.
He added:
“If people arrive early and get close to checkpoints, they are shot. If they arrive on time and too many cross over barriers, they are shot. If they arrive late, they are in a declared evacuation zone—again, they are shot.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the Foundation as a “sadistic death trap,” accusing snipers of shooting indiscriminately into crowds as if they had a license to kill.
He called Israel’s targeting of people searching for food in Gaza a “mass hunt with total impunity,” adding:
“This cannot be the new normal. Humanitarian aid is not the work of mercenaries.”
A report in the British Telegraph described the Foundation’s new system as requiring civilians to travel long distances to four “distribution centers” likened to “open-air prisons,” where thousands are crammed into tight corridors under intense heat.
Numerous media outlets and social media testimonies also showed the hardship and dangers people face trying to access aid from these centers.
Claim 3: Neutrality, Transparency, and Independence — Reality:
The Foundation, backed by the U.S. and Israel from its inception, has faced widespread criticism and skepticism from local and international actors. Its former CEO, Jake Wood, resigned before it began operations, stating the plan could not be implemented “while strictly adhering to humanitarian principles of neutrality, integrity, and independence,” and he would not compromise on those values.
Christopher Gunness, former UNRWA spokesperson, told Anadolu Agency the Foundation was run by “a mix of veterans, mercenaries, and ex-soldiers out of uniform,” and accused it of violating the four core humanitarian principles: neutrality, independence, impartiality, and do-no-harm.
The UN declined to cooperate with the Foundation. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said:
“Its plan does not align with our core principles, including neutrality, integrity, and independence.”
Claim 4: Ensuring Food Reaches Those Most in Need — Reality:
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has maintained a total blockade on Gaza, closing all crossings and continuing to prevent the entry of food and medicine, leading to a famine.
UNRWA reported on 20 July 2025, that Israeli authorities are “starving civilians in Gaza, including one million children,” and called for lifting the blockade and allowing food and medicine to enter.
UNICEF said on 21 July 2025, that children in Gaza are suffering from deadly, catastrophic levels of malnutrition. It confirmed that “hunger is widespread, people are dying, food is dangerously scarce, and clean water is below emergency thresholds.”
UNICEF called for unrestricted access to aid across all areas, warning that aid is “severely restricted and access to it is dangerous.”
On 22 July 2025, Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported the death of 15 people, including four children, due to starvation and malnutrition in just 24 hours—bringing the total famine-related death toll to 101, including 80 children.
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Health Ministry, confirmed Gaza had officially entered the fifth and final stage of famine and warned of possible “mass death” in the coming hours.
Dr. Bassam Zaqout, Director of Medical Relief in Gaza, also warned the Strip had entered the “famine danger zone,” where mass deaths—particularly among women and children—were expected.
