Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was an organization backed by the Israeli and American governments with the stated purpose of distributing humanitarian aid amid the ongoing famine and humanitarian crisis resulting from the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. It was established in February 2025, suspended operations in October 2025, and closed in November 2025. Intended to bypass the United Nations as the main supplier of aid in Gaza, GHF began operating in May 2025 as a response to fraudulent Israeli claims that aid was being routinely diverted by Hamas. Aid organizations including the UN have denied these claims and attributed the aid theft to Palestinian groups armed by the Israeli military.

There were repeated mass killings in the vicinity of GHF distribution sites. As of 15 August 2025, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that of the 1,760 Palestinians killed since 27 May while seeking food, 994 were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites. The attacks at GHF sites were attributed to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by the OHCHR, Gaza officials, and witnesses. US contractors with the GHF were also filmed shooting Palestinian civilians, and according to former staff, its organizational culture dehumanized aid seekers and imposed few controls on the behavior of contractors. The GHF and the IDF repeatedly denied responsibility for deaths at aid sites, saying that only warning shots were fired.

Survivors of the repeated mass killings perpetrated at the distribution sites began to refer to the Israeli-backed operation as traps or death traps rather than aid. Doctors Without Borders described the conditions around these distributions as "slaughter masquerading as aid" and "orchestrated killing". The Center for Constitutional Rights and 14 other human rights organizations warned that the GHF could be liable for complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians. Critics referred to the mass killings at GHF sites as the "hunger games" in reference to the American media franchise.

The United Nations and other aid groups refused to cooperate with the GHF and accused them of politicizing and "weaponizing aid", and delivering it in a manner that is unsafe and degrading for the Palestinian people. The United Nations and over 170 charities and NGOs, including Save the Children and Oxfam, accused the GHF of failing to uphold and violating humanitarian norms by forcing two million Palestinians into overcrowded and militarized zones and subjecting aid-seekers to almost daily attacks; they demanded that the GHF be immediately closed.

GHF was led by executive director John Acree, a former USAID manager, and executive chairman Johnnie Moore, an American evangelical leader and businessman.

GHF's operations were suspended following the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire. A spokesperson for the group described an intent to resume operations. In November 2025, the GHF announced the permanent end of its operations in Gaza, saying that they "succeeded in their mission of showing there's a better way to deliver aid to Gazans."