U.S.-backed Gaza aid group halts work for a day, asks Israel to minimize risks

7/6/2025 6:27

The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former U.S. officials, a move that would involve the U.S. more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.



The sources and former U.S. officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the U.S. State Department.



The plan has met resistance from some U.S. officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.



The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May

19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.