Over 200 Jewish, Christian, Muslim and secular organizations and NGOs from more than 15 countries are calling on the United Nations and international communities to collaborate with the U.S.-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and demand an investigation of the U.N. relief agency in Gaza.
The interfaith coalition’s letter calls on the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly to oppose any attempt to “obstruct or delegitimize” the GHF’s work, and for the U.N. to collaborate with the GHF and other credible humanitarian organizations.
The GHF, an Israel-backed effort to provide aid to Gazans without directly supporting Hamas, began distributing aid to Gazans in May and says it has since distributed over 120 million meals.
The letter also calls for a formal investigation into the U.N. Relief and Works Agency’s operations in Gaza, as multiple reports have raised concerns about UNRWA’s ties to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, as well as how the organization handles aid distribution.
“There is overwhelming evidence that UNRWA-led aid in Gaza has been compromised, enabling Hamas to profit and exert control, contravening humanitarian principles and law. The GHF offers a viable, neutral, and effective alternative,” the letter states.
“We respectfully request that the U.N. and world leaders take steps to shift U.N. policy in Gaza away from refusal to cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and toward one that works in partnership and collaboration with the GHF for the good of the citizens of Gaza.”
UNRWA did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
The signatories, which include the Christian Jewish Alliance, Israel Christian Nexus and the American Muslim and Multi-Faith Women’s Empowerment Council, asserted that the GHF has proven itself “a far more impartial and effective humanitarian partner than UNRWA.”
As the coalition noted, multiple eyewitnessreports and analyses of the situation in Gaza have found evidence that Hamas exploits the U.N. distribution system, stealing the aid intended for civilians and taxing Gazans for aid that was supposed to be free. Several U.N. employees have also been accused of hoarding food instead of distributing it to civilians.
“These actions constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, which expressly forbids the weaponization of aid or its use for the financial or political benefit of armed groups,” the interfaith coalition’s letter states.
By contrast, the GHF is delivering aid directly to civilians, the letter argues, which prevents Hamas from profiting off it.
On Friday, the GHF announced that it had delivered over 1.5 million meals across three aid distribution sites and that the organization has delivered 123 million meals to date.
“Despite this, United Nations officials on the ground have refused to cooperate with the GHF and are, according to multiple reports, actively campaigning against it,” the coalition’s letter states.
“Instead, they appear intent on restoring the prior system, a system that facilitated Hamas’s profiteering and permitted the widespread diversion of humanitarian supplies,” the NGOs and humanitarian groups argue. “Refusal to work with the current GHF aid distribution system will only hurt Palestinian civilians.”
In a joint statement released earlier this month, U.N. officials claimed the GHF was an effort to “exploit” aid for “covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law.”
“The entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous non-governmental entities underlines the urgent need for robust international oversight and action under UN auspices,” the U.N. statement reads.
Given that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” the U.N. officials contend that the state accused of committing “genocide” can’t be left in charge of “feeding the population affected by the genocide.”
The ICC’s arrest warrant drew criticism from several U.S. Evangelical leaders, who say it goes after Israel’s leader when the war was sparked by Hamas terrorists killing 1,200 people and abducting over 240 others in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel’s stated goal for its military offensive is to eradicate Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, and secure the release of the hostages. Hamas-controlled authorities in Gaza say over 60,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began, a figure that doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.
During an interview last month with journalist Billy Hallowell, Rev. Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of the GHF, condemned the U.N. for attempting to undermine the group’s efforts to deliver meals to Gazans. He also criticized the U.N. for boycotting the GHF when it has never boycotted Hamas.
“Our job is just to feed Gaza,” Moore said. “But we’re also, in feeding Gazans, trying to address a systemic issue, which is almost all of the humanitarian aid that has been going into Gaza for as long as anybody can remember has been under the total control of Hamas.”
The Evangelical leader said that the U.N. has refused to work with the GHF, claiming that the GHF violates humanitarian principles of “impartiality.” Moore said such a claim is “hogwash.” GHF also claims Hamas murdered aid workers and placed bounties on their heads, actions that Moore has called on the U.N. to condemn.
“And they wouldn’t even do that,” the chairman stated.
On July 11, U.N. Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva that the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded “615 killings in the vicinity of the GHF sites” since May 26 and through July 7. Shamdasani alleged that another 183 deaths had occurred on routes to aid convoys, and that nearly 800 people have been killed trying to access aid.
The OHCHR said that its information comes from Gaza hospitals, cemeteries, families, the Hamas-run health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.
In a statement to Reuters last month, the GHF denied the allegations, referring to the numbers from the U.N. as “false and misleading.”
“The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to U.N. convoys,” a GHF spokesperson said at the time. “Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If the U.N. and other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
