Warren, Van Hollen, Welch Demand State Department End $30 Million Contract With Shady Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Investigate Organization’s Role in Gaza Famine

Warren, Van Hollen, Welch Demand State Department End $30 Million Contract With Shady Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Investigate Organization's Role in Gaza Famine

Reports indicate that 994 Palestinianshave died seeking food in Gaza near GHF sites

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Following the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's (IPC) declaration of famine in Gaza, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) wrote to the Department of State (State) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) demanding clarity on its decision to award $30 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

"Starving civilians should not be shot at while desperately trying to reach food supplies," wrote the senators. "The State Department should immediately cease funding GHF and transfer or restore funding to experienced aid organizations given the strong and growing evidence that GHF is failing to accomplish its humanitarian mission."

In the weeks since the State Department issued funding to GHF, the private security contractors GHF employs to distribute aid in Gaza have used live ammunition, pepper spray, and stun grenades near GHF sites. The UN has confirmed that 994 Palestinians have died near GHF sites while trying to access food since May. Ahead of the State Department's award to the organization, Senator Warren highlighted concerns about the organization's lack of experience with food distribution, significant leadership turmoil, and the absence of transparency regarding any of its funders. A month later, following hundreds of deaths near GHF sites, a coalition of Senators led by Senator Van Hollen and Senator Welch pressed the Administration to restore funding to the UN-led system and questioned why State decided to exempt GHF from a comprehensive audit required for organizations working with USAID for the first time.

On August 22, the IPC declared the first confirmed famine in the Middle East in northern Gaza, with two million people facing severe hunger and said that "starvation is present and is rapidly spreading." Reports indicate that at least 20,000 children were admitted to hospitals for acute malnutrition in recent months, with at least 3,000 of those children being considered severely malnourished and one-third of Gaza's population not eating for multiple days in a row.

According to Reuters, the State Department overrode more than 50 objections raised by USAID staff and waived nine counter-terrorism and anti-fraud requirements in a rush to approve the $30 million award for GHF. Objections included concerns about GHF's lack of basic details about the location of proposed sites, inconsistencies in budget line items, failure to address how the organization would "Do No Harm", and failure to "provide sufficient information to ensure that aid will reach intended recipients." It is unclear whether the State Department completed any vetting or third-party monitoring of GHF before its award.

Repeated requests from lawmakers to the State Department and USAID for information about the GHF have gone unanswered.

"The Department's inability to answer basic questions about GHF in a timely manner is unacceptable and gives the appearance that the Trump Administration cannot defend its decision-making process," said the senators.

Contractors employed by GHF to distribute aid to Palestinians reportedly coordinate with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), violating longstanding norms around neutrality and impartiality in war zones.

"GHF's apparent coordination with the IDF contradicts humanitarian organizations' longstanding adherence to principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality, and humanity… These reports provide ample justification for the State Department to immediately terminate its contract with GHF," wrote the senators.

"GHF's lack of experience, track record of committing violence against civilians seeking aid, and the organization's apparent cooperation with the IDF, raise serious humanitarian and legal questions, and should disqualify the organization from future funding," concluded the senators.

The senators asked the State Department to, by September 14, 2025, provide a copy of the award and vetting documents to GHF; explain its waiving of anti-terrorism and anti-fraud requirements for GHF; provide any export licenses provided to GHF private security contractors; explain whether the Department has completed a Leahy vetting of IDF units that work with GHF; and explain what support and services U.S. personnel in Israel provide to GHF.

###