Blood-Stained Aid: US-Backed Israeli Forces Accused Of Turning Gaza Food Sites Into Execution Grounds.

“They promised food. Instead, we got bullets.” — Ahmed al-Masri, 47, survivor of a June 30 shooting at a GHF site in Gaza City

A Humanitarian Illusion Built On Blood:

What was billed as a breakthrough in humanitarian relief for Gaza, an “apolitical” aid distribution scheme run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has, according to multiple rights groups, turned into one of the most lethal and lawless operations of the war.

A damning report released Friday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israeli forces and private US contractors of presiding over a “militarised and deadly distribution network” that has routinely killed starving Palestinians, in what HRW says may amount to war crimes.

“US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.” — Belkis Wille, Associate Director, Crisis and Conflict Division, HRW

Eyewitnesses, former contractors, local journalists, and international observers all converge on the same conclusion: aid sites have become death zones, where hunger-stricken civilians are not just abandoned, but targeted.

Hundreds Dead, Thousands Wounded:

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access food since May 27, when Israel launched the new GHF-managed scheme. Of those, 859 died near GHF’s four designated aid sites, located in Rafah, Khan Younis, Gaza City, and Deir al-Balah.

“We buried 19 in one day. All of them had gone for food.” — Dr. Lina Hammad, trauma surgeon, al-Aqsa Hospital

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirmed these figures in a separate report, stating that “most killings were carried out by the Israeli military.” While acknowledging that “armed elements” were sometimes present, the UN said it found no evidence they were responsible for the vast majority of deaths.

Eyewitness Accounts: ‘Walk Straight Or Get Shot’.

HRW interviewed ten individuals, including six Palestinians who either witnessed attacks or survived them, and Anthony Aguilar, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer who worked for UG Solutions, the GHF’s armed private contractor.

“If you stopped walking, or did anything they didn’t want, they fired at you.” — Omar al-Qarra, 34, wounded en route to Site 2 in Khan Younis

Aguilar provided photos, satellite data, and internal documents to HRW, confirming that Israeli tanks fired live shells near civilian crowds, and that UG Solutions contractors, despite denials, used live ammunition to control chaotic aid queues.

“It was chaos. There were no lanes, no order, just people running. We were told to ‘secure the zone,’ and that meant whatever it took.” — Anthony Aguilar, former GHF contractor, to HRW

A Scheme Cloaked In Secrecy And Propaganda:

The GHF, jointly operated by US firms Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) and UG Solutions, was set up as an alternative to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after Israeli officials accused the UN of allowing Hamas to siphon aid. However, a New York Times investigation found “no systematic evidence” that Hamas had diverted UN aid.

“This system is political theatre, designed to justify the shutdown of the UN pipeline and put aid into the hands of military contractors.” — Dr. Rami Adwan, researcher, Arab Centre, Washington DC

Even GHF’s own operational metrics reveal its failure: At full capacity, GHF distributes food via 60 trucks per day, a fraction of the 600 trucks per day that entered Gaza during the January ceasefire under UN supervision.

“People are dying to get food. Literally. This is not a humanitarian operation, it’s a tactical one.”
— Hiba Yazbek, journalist, Haaretz

Deliberate Starvation Meets Deliberate Killing:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its January 2025 ruling in South Africa v. Israel, ordered Israel to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access and cease acts of genocide, including the starvation of civilians. Yet conditions have deteriorated dramatically since then.

“This is not incidental. This is weaponised famine. And the GHF system is part of the apparatus.”
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Local aid workers, such as Mohammed Qudaih, a volunteer in Rafah, describe a daily gauntlet of tanks, drones, and sniper fire just to reach distribution points.

“People arrive already wounded. They come with white flags. Some never make it back.” — Mohammed Qudaih, aid volunteer

Who Pays For This? And Why?

HRW’s report raises serious concerns about GHF’s funding, which allegedly includes a $100 million transfer from an unnamed foreign government, funnelled through a Trump administration emergency executive authorisation.

“The funding pipeline has avoided congressional scrutiny entirely. We don’t even know which government paid for this operation.” — Katherine Gallagher, senior staff attorney, Centre for Constitutional Rights.

The Trump administration, which withdrew from the ICJ and ICC earlier this year, has doubled down on GHF’s credibility. During a rare visit to Gaza on July 31, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the Rafah site, accompanied by Israeli military escorts.

“Feeding civilians, not terrorists, is our goal.” — Chapin Fay, GHF spokesperson, in a statement to press

But Palestinian civil society leaders see it differently.

“If this is what feeding civilians looks like, then what is war? Let Witkoff live here for one week and see what starvation really means.” — Tribal Council of Southern Gaza, public statement, August 1.

The Aid System No One Can Enter Or Observe:

Journalists have been barred from entering GHF sites. Neither the Israeli military nor GHF has permitted independent observers or media presence at the four aid centres.

“What are they hiding? Every other humanitarian agency welcomes cameras. GHF runs on secrecy, security, and spin.” — Peter Beaumont, reporter, The Guardian

An ITV News journalist, citing satellite and drone footage, reported on July 28 that Israeli tanks fired high-calibre shells at unarmed civilians within 150 meters of Site 4.

“The footage is unmistakable: these were not warning shots. They were targeted.” — Shireen Hamad, freelance journalist, Gaza City

Calls For Accountability Mount:

HRW, the UN, and dozens of NGOs are now demanding the immediate suspension of the GHF aid scheme, an arms embargo on Israel, and the restoration of UN-led distribution.

“States must use all leverage, diplomatic, economic, legal, to end these atrocity crimes. The current system is not humanitarian. It is genocidal.” — HRW statement, August 1.

So far, the Biden-led UN Security Council resolution calling for the protection of aid convoys has been vetoed by the United States.

Conclusion: Aid as a Weapon, Civilians as Targets

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was launched with the stated aim of feeding the starving. Instead, it has become a dystopian theatre of calculated violence, where Israeli forces and US-backed private contractors operate a system that delivers bullets alongside breadcrumbs. The evidence, satellite imagery, eyewitness accounts, verified video, and internal communications, is overwhelming: these are not accidents. They are part of a systematic, militarised campaign of control, intimidation, and collective punishment.

While Israeli officials continue to peddle the unsubstantiated claim that Hamas is looting aid or obstructing deliveries, the reality, confirmed by the New York Times, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations, is that Israel itself is the primary force blocking full-scale humanitarian access. The Israeli government has closed key border crossings, imposed arbitrary permit denials, shelled convoy routes, and physically restricted UN agencies from resuming life-saving operations. Meanwhile, the Israeli military and its contractors have replaced neutral, civilian-led humanitarian systems with armed, privatised mechanisms shrouded in secrecy and propaganda.

“Israel is not only orchestrating starvation; it is scripting the story to excuse it,” said a senior UN official familiar with border negotiations.

This is not a humanitarian failure; it is a deliberate strategy to control the narrative, deny accountability, and criminalise Palestinian survival. Israel’s claim that Hamas is stealing aid is a smokescreen designed to shift blame, delegitimise neutral aid channels, and justify an aid model that is more about optics and military leverage than feeding a population in crisis.

At the heart of this system is a dangerous collusion: between the Israeli military, US private contractors, and political backers in Washington who have effectively greenlit the weaponisation of aid. The result is a grotesque paradox: Palestinians must risk death just to eat, while their killers claim to be their saviours.

If the international community continues to look away, if it fails to impose an arms embargo, reassert UN humanitarian authority, and hold Israel accountable for these escalating atrocities,it will not merely be complicit in Gaza’s starvation. It will be complicit in the transformation of humanitarian aid itself into a tool of modern warfare.

What is unfolding in Gaza is not a breakdown. It is a blueprint.

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