The head of the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has strongly defended the group’s operations amid growing criticism over the deaths of Palestinians near its aid distribution sites.
Johnnie Moore, GHF’s executive director, told BBC World Service’s Newshour that while he was not denying there had been casualties, it was “not true” that all were linked directly to GHF aid points.
“100% of those casualties are being attributed to GHF — that’s misinformation,” Moore said. He accused the UN and other international actors of promoting unverified claims, and said many reports were based on “disinformation.”
UN agencies and aid groups have condemned the GHF operation, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling it “inherently unsafe.” “Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarised zones is inherently unsafe. The search for food must never be a death sentence,” Guterres said Friday.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 500 people have died and more than 4,000 have been injured while trying to access aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Two major incidents on 1 and 3 June saw dozens killed, triggering international outrage.
Eyewitnesses, medical workers, and multiple human rights organisations have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of firing on crowds near GHF sites. On Friday, Haaretz published a report quoting unnamed IDF soldiers who claimed they were ordered to shoot unarmed civilians near aid zones. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the allegations as “malicious falsehoods.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it had “not instructed forces to deliberately shoot at civilians,” while acknowledging the need to improve operations around distribution points. The military said it had recently added new signage, fencing, and access routes to aid zones.
Moore insisted that, in many cases, his team could not confirm any incidents occurring near their sites. “We spend an extended period of time trying to understand what actually happened… In most circumstances we haven’t been able to identify anything happening,” he said.
He also challenged UN claims that its aid trucks had not faced large-scale hijacking. “The UN is not being honest,” Moore said, alleging that before GHF took over, most aid was being stolen at gunpoint — a claim the UN denies.
Despite Israel easing an 11-week blockade last month, humanitarian experts warn that aid volumes remain far too low to prevent famine in Gaza. The GHF has delivered nearly 50 million meals so far — less than one meal per day per person since it began.
Moore admitted the efforts were “insufficient” but insisted they were a step forward: “50 million meals is more than had been available a month ago. The mission is clear — we just want to feed Gazans.”
On Thursday, the US State Department announced $30 million in funding for the GHF — its first direct contribution to the group.
The aid crisis comes against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says over 56,000 people have died in the territory.
