The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced on Saturday that the reason for temporarily pausing operations was due to threats against the organization and its staff by Hamas.
“Hamas is the reason hundreds of thousands of hungry Gazans were not fed today. The group issued direct threats against GHF operations. These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk,” the statement read. “Hamas wants to return to a broken system it once controlled and exploited—diverting aid, manipulating distribution, and putting its own agenda ahead of the Palestinian people’s basic needs. However, GHF will not be deterred.
“We remain committed to safe, secure, and independent aid delivery. We are actively adapting our operations to overcome these threats and fully intend to resume distributions without delay.”
Pauses in humanitarian aid in Gaza
Aid distribution in Gaza was halted on Friday after the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations, in the latest disruption to its troubled relief effort.
In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure.
“The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed,” it said in a statement.
