The U.S. State
Department has approved $30 million in funding for the Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation, the State Department said on Thursday,
calling on other countries to also support the controversial
group delivering aid in war-torn Gaza.
“This support is simply the latest iteration of President
Trump’s and Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of peace in the region,”
State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters
at a regular news briefing.
Reuters was first to report the move earlier this week.
Washington has long backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
diplomatically, but this is the first known U.S. government
financial contribution to the organization, which uses private
for-profit U.S. military and logistics firms to transport aid
into the Palestinian enclave for distribution at so-called
secure sites.
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on
May 19, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume, the United
Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking
aid from both the U.N. and GHF operations.
Earlier this month, GHF halted aid deliveries for a day
as it pressed Israel to boost civilian safety near its
distribution sites after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were
killed. It says there have been no incidents at its sites.
The foundation\u2019s executive director,
Johnnie Moore
, an evangelical preacher who was a White House adviser in
the first Trump administration, said in a post on X on Thursday
that the group has delivered more than 46 million meals to
Gazans since it began its operations in May.
Some U.S. officials opposed giving any U.S. funds to the
foundation over concerns about violence near aid distribution
sites, the GHF’s inexperience and the involvement of the
for-profit U.S. logistics and private military firms, four
sources told Reuters earlier this week.
The United States could approve additional monthly
grants of $30 million for the GHF, two sources said, all of whom
spoke on condition of anonymity.
In approving the U.S. funding for the GHF, the sources
said the State Department exempted the foundation, which has not
publicly disclosed its finances, from an audit usually required
for groups receiving USAID grants for the first time.
There is an acute shortage of food and other basic
supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. StateDepartment has approved $30 million in funding for the GazaHumanitarian Foundation, the State Department said on Thursday,calling on other countries to also support the controversialgroup delivering aid in war-torn Gaza.“This support is simply the latest iteration of PresidentTrump’s and Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of peace in the region,”State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n