According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid at or near aid distribution sites have been killed since the US and Israel-backed GHF was launched at the end of May.
Ninety-three Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have signed a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an investigation into the ownership structure and operation of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
“We have serious concerns with the operations of GHF, a newly established, private, US-linked organization with no prior humanitarian experience, and the possibility that it could become the sole or primary aid provider in Gaza,” the lawmakers stated in the letter dated July 30, 2025.
NEWS: I led 92 House Democrats in demanding an investigation into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a private, unqualified U.S.-linked aid organization at the center of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
GHF’s reckless aid distribution tactics have led to mass panic and… pic.twitter.com/LsoswEmfbR
— Rep. Sean Casten (@RepCasten) July 30, 2025
“We agree that delivering aid promptly and securely is crucial. However, GHF’s practices and finances require increased transparency and oversight to ensure aid reaches the intended beneficiaries effectively, safely, and in accordance with international standards,” the letter added.
Over 1,000 Killed
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid at or near aid distribution sites have been killed since the US and Israel-backed GHF was launched at the end of May.
The GHF runs four aid sites set up in the south of Gaza, forcing starving Palestinians to walk long distances in order to reach the sites in the hope that they will receive some form of aid.
Barbarism on camera:
Israeli forces fire shots at the feet of desperate and hungry Palestinians as UN teams tried to deliver food aid to Gaza
This is the horror of life under the IDF’s occupation; the 21st Century’s Waffen SS pic.twitter.com/ys7sxG6P27
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) July 31, 2025
Questioning the approval of funding for the GHF, the lawmakers wrote that on June 24, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) approved a $30 million grant for the organization.
They said Jeremy Lewin, a current DOS official and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee, “reportedly moved forward with the grant’s approval despite 58 internal objections that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff experts wanted GHF to resolve before approving funding, and an assessment in a memorandum from an acting USAID official that GHF’s funding plan failed to meet required ‘minimum technical or budgetary standards.’”
They stressed, “As lawmakers entrusted with the authority to appropriate taxpayer funds, which were undoubtedly used for GHF’s grant, we find this troubling.”
Sponsor Transparency
The lawmakers also raised concern that the GHF has not published “a complete list” of its sponsors.
The GHF was registered in Delaware in February 2025 and also established an office in Geneva, Switzerland “with the explicit intent of accommodating donors that “prefer to participate outside of the U.S. structure.” The Swiss government has since announced that the office is to be dissolved.
The letter stated that the foundation has publicly stated that it has received at least $119 million from “other government donors,” and despite public denial, the Israeli government has “reportedly covertly contributed approximately $280 million USD to the new aid mechanism run by GHF.”
Therefore, full disclosure of GHF’s funding sources “is imperative,” the letter added.
Private US Firms
The lawmakers pointed out that GHF “contracts two American private firms, afe Reach Solutions (SRS) and UG Solutions (UGS), to provide security and logistics, with some pricing models reportedly provided by Boston Consulting Group consultants.”
None of the groups “have prior humanitarian experience,” nor does GHF Executive Chairman Johnnie Moore, a close ally of President Trump, it noted.
‘Amir Walked 12km to Get Food’ and Was Shot – US Mercenary on Gaza ‘Death Traps’
“As a result, these distribution centers appear to operate at a reduced capacity at an exorbitant cost, significantly exceeding the current operating costs of experienced humanitarian organizations,” the letter stated.
The lawmakers also said they were “alarmed” at the “widespread violence” at GHF distribution centers resulting in the killing of at least 1,000 Palestinians as of July 23.
“Instead of using traditional aid distribution methods, based on internationally agreed-upon humanitarian principles, GHF provides food on a first-come, first-served basis,” they stated.
As a result, when centers open, large crowds of Palestinians rush to the centers.
In these situations, “there appear to be few restrictions on the use of lethal force” by Israeli soldiers and American contractors in the vicinity.
‘Shoot to Kill’
A former security contractor stated that he was instructed, “if you feel threatened, shoot – shoot to kill and ask questions later,” the letter stated.
The politicians emphasized that “the risk of violence, long wait times, and limited aid availability appear to force hundreds of thousands to choose between risking their lives or going without food.”
U.S. military veteran Anthony Aguilar, who worked as a security contractor at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, says he was horrified by war crimes being carried out against starving Palestinians. “The sites have not only become death traps, they were designed as death traps.” pic.twitter.com/7daP4myxey
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) July 29, 2025
The lawmakers said operations of the GHF sites “are widely criticized” by experienced humanitarian organizations “as being inefficient and dangerous, and violating internationally agreed-upon humanitarian principles.”
Notably, they added, GHF’s inaugural Executive Director and former Marine, Jake Wood, resigned from the organization, citing that the organization no longer aligned with “humanitarian principles.”
List of Concerns
The lawmakers listed a series of questions with a response expected by August 14.
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These include what “specific oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure that the GHF operates in accordance with U.S. and international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality,” as well as what steps the US government is taking to address concerns about t militarization at GHF’s aid sites, “particularly regarding the involvement of U.S. private contractors and Israeli security forces.”
They also requested a “complete and most current list of GHF’s donors” and how, if at all, GHF will coordinate with other humanitarian organizations already working in Gaza.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
The Grayzone filled in some of those questions: https://thegrayzone.com/2025/07/31/gaza-aid-partner-endorsed-hitler/