Israel
Hamas ‘openly targeting’ Gaza aid workers with bounties
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says the terrorist organisation is threatening its staff and disrupting distribution
June 29, 2025 08:59
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says the terrorist organisation is threatening its staff and disrupting distribution
June 29, 2025 08:59The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has issued a stark warning following what it describes as “credible reports” that Hamas is now openly targeting its personnel – both American and Palestinian – through a campaign of bounties and violence.
“We are aware of credible reports that Hamas is openly targeting the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and those who work with us," the US-backed aid organisation said on Saturday.
"According to these reports, Hamas has placed bounties on both our American security personnel and Palestinian aid workers – offering cash rewards to anyone who injures or kills them.”
The foundation further alleged that Hamas had positioned armed terrorists near humanitarian zones in a deliberate effort to disrupt what it described as the “only functioning aid delivery system in Gaza”. The group claimed that 12 of its local staff have already been killed and others tortured in recent weeks, with threats intensifying by the day.
GHF team members are working tirelessly to distribute food aid directly and without interference to the people of Gaza. Every box of aid makes a difference. pic.twitter.com/A2RPktAHA9
— Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (@GHFUpdates) June 29, 2025
"US President Trump has made clear he supports our work and has pledged as recently as yesterday to help broker a ceasefire and bring peace, which would help everyone deliver more aid to the people of Gaza. Hamas, through these violent and escalating threats, is showing the world it prefers chaos and starvation to peace and aid," the statement continued.
JNS reported on Thursday that the US State Department will provide an additional $30 million to the GHF and is calling on other countries to support the private endeavor as an alternative to the UN aid system, which the US claims has been vulnerable to Hamas looting.
"We call on international leaders and aid groups to stand with us and with the people of Gaza. The people of Gaza, who show up to our sites every day in defiance of Hamas’s threats and brutality, deserve it," the statement concluded.
Since launching operations in late May, the foundation has reported delivering nearly 50 million meals to more than 800,000 unique recipients, marking, it says, the first time since the war’s onset that many Gazans have received food aid free from Hamas interference.
However, it has come under scrutiny for the contents of its rations, which critics claim are insufficient, and the safety of its distribution centres following a number of shootings in recent months.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee echoed the group’s concerns in a statement on X.
"Last month President Trump told us to get food to civilians in Gaza but DON’T let Hamas steal it. GHF delivers its 50 MILLIONTH meal tomorrow. NOT always pretty, but 800k+ unique recipients of food & 1ST TIME they received food FREE since start of war. Hamas has stolen or taxed it & now [with] GHF they CAN'T!
"Hamas’ main tool to control Gaza is GONE. Hamas has put a bounty on head of everyone at GHF – Gazans & Americans. The UN remains SILENT. It’s why [President Trump] says Hamas can’t stay or ever govern Gaza. They don’t care if they kill or starve their own people," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement overnight Wednesday ordering the IDF to present, within 48 hours, a plan to prevent Hamas from seizing humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip.
The directive follows intelligence reports indicating that Hamas is once again commandeering aid shipments and diverting them from Gaza’s civilian population.
The statement came on the heels of a video posted to social media by former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, which appears to show armed Hamas terrorists riding atop food trucks after taking control of them.
“This video was filmed today,” Bennett wrote on X. “Soldiers on the ground explained to me that these are the current instructions—to bring in trucks without control. This is how they continue to feed Hamas with money and power. Government ministers pledged that ‘not a single grain will enter,’ and as usual, the reality is the opposite. Shameful.”
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the flow of aid to Gaza has been halted until the IDF presents its new plan. The decision to pause deliveries was made shortly after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu: immediately stop aid from reaching Hamas or risk losing his support in the governing coalition. The suspension of aid will remain in effect pending the IDF’s recommendations.