Mainstream media outlets continue to smear the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) with fake news reports suggesting that people are killed at, or near, the group’s aid sites — repeating Hamas propaganda.
As Breitbart News has reported, CNN, the Washington Post, and other outlets have falsely claimed that Palestinian civilians were killed at sites where the GHF distributes free meals to Palestinians in Gaza.
These claims originate with Hamas and its “Gaza health ministry,” which either make up claims entirely, or else attribute violence that occurs elsewhere — even near United Nations aid sites, and even violence carried out by Hamas — to the GHF aid sites.
Earlier this month, the GHF was blamed for violence that supposedly broke out at an aid site in Gaza City, in northern Gaza — even though the GHF does not yet have any aid sites in Gaza City or northern Gaza.
Hamas and the United Nations are both opposed to the GHF, which undermines their monopoly on aid distribution in Gaza. They would rather the world believe that GHF is luring Palestinians to their deaths.
No matter how often initial reports are shown to be wrong, the Western media continue to blame the GHF for violence, even though no violence has taken place at the four GHF sites themselves.
On Tuesday, for example, the Post reported: “51 Gazans killed waiting for aid, [Gaza] Health Ministry says; IDF reviewing incident.” The story claimed that “At least 51 people were killed and more than 200 injured by Israeli fire while they waited for aid near Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it was investigating the incident.
The article that followed admitted that the victims had decided not to go to a GHF aid site, but insinuated that GHF was to blame anyway. Rather than mere rifle fire, the article claimed there had been artillery fire:
Mohamed Abu Ghali, 32, said he went to the roundabout to seek flour to feed his two young daughters, thinking that waiting for aid from trucks passing by would be safer than traveling to one of the distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a nonprofit backed by the United States and Israel that uses armed contractors for security.
“We thought it would be easier,” Abu Ghali said. But as he waited with thousands of others for aid trucks to arrive in the area, three Israeli artillery shells struck the crowd, sending shrapnel flying and leaving dozens of dead and wounded lying in the street.
The Times of Israel, relying partly on western news agencies for information, reported the incident under the headline: “another mass casualty incident reported near GHF aid site.” The article went on to elaborate:
Israeli troops started firing as thousands of Palestinians massed around 4 a.m. at the Flag Roundabout before the scheduled opening time of the Rafah food center, according to Heba Jouda and Mohamed Abed, two Palestinians who were in the crowd.
…
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution that the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. Its operations have been plagued by deadly shooting incidents in areas leading to its sites.
The IDF is not present at the sites that are protected by civilian contractors, but does secure the approach routes. The IDF has admitted that in some cases, troops fired warning shots or fired at suspects who approached them while ignoring calls to stay away from military positions.
The lack of international media access to the Strip has made verifying either side’s claims almost impossible.
It is not clear what “impartial or neutral” aid distribution means, in a context when United Nations personnel have been shown to be working for Hamas, and their trucks are constantly looted by Hamas or armed gangs.
While the Times of Israel admitted — in explicit terms — that claims of violence could not be verified, it printed them anyway.
The same was true of CNN, which reported: “Dozens killed by Israeli fire as they sought desperately needed aid in Gaza, Palestinian health ministry says.”
It not only claimed that Israel had fired on people waiting for flour trucks (note: not within an actual GHF distribution center), but added an “airstrike”:
One eyewitness, Mohammed Abu Abed, said that a group of people was hit by an airstrike. He told CNN: “We were waiting for flour trucks. Suddenly, we were among the people and were hit by two missiles that tore apart people’s bodies, remains, pieces of flesh everywhere. I don’t know what to say; they killed the people, unarmed people who had nothing on them.”
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Humanitarian organizations say that aid currently entering the enclave is only a tiny fraction of what is needed, with the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – the main supplier of aid in Gaza – coming under global scrutiny since it opened its distribution points late last month.
Palestinians en route to GHF distribution sites have repeatedly been fired upon since its inception, according to the health ministry, with some 3,000 people injured in addition to the fatalities. On Tuesday, eight people were also killed after coming under Israeli fire near an aid distribution site west of Rafah, the ministry said.
CNN admitted a crucial detail: that the GHF has become “the main supplier of aid in Gaza.” That is because United Nations trucks are looted, and because Hamas hoards aid for itself, selling it on the black market.
Another report, by Reuters, claimed that 59 people had been killed by Israeli “tanks” while waiting for aid.
In summary, the news reports blamed: Israeli troops shooting rifles (Times of Israel, citing news agencies); Israeli artillery fire (Washington Post); an Israeli airstrike (CNN); and Israeli tank fire (Reuters). The news reports could not even agree on what caused the violence; the one thing they agreed on is that GHF was to blame.
In response to the false reporting on Tuesday, the GHF issued a statement calling out the mainstream media:
A number of media outlets have falsely reported today that dozens of Palestinians were killed at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site. This is categorically untrue. The incident in question did not occur at a GHF site, but rather near a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) location.
To date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites nor has an incident occurred during our operating hours. Our distribution model is secure and designed specifically to prevent this kind of tragedy—even under extreme pressure.
It is troubling that GHF is once again being blamed for an incident that occurred at a UN site. If anything, this underscores the urgent need for the UN and other humanitarian actors to reassess their security and distribution protocols. In Gaza’s current environment—marked by severe food shortages and widespread desperation—failing to solve for the reality on the ground is having deadly consequences. Until there is enough food in Gaza, chaos will persist—and that chaos must be managed responsibly.
In this environment, accurate reporting is essential. We urge journalists to verify facts before attributing incidents to GHF. There is a growing pattern of violent events being misreported as occurring near our sites, when they involve UN convoys or areas far outside our operations. We’re also concerned by the role of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, certain UN officials, and Al Jazeera in promoting these false narratives. Intentional or not, the result is the same: undermining the only aid operation consistently delivering aid safely, at scale.
GHF remains focused on its mission: to safely, quickly, and effectively feed as many people as possible, every day. We urge the media to match that commitment with accuracy.
The GHF is backed by the Trump administration and continues to operate four sites in spite of the dangers of war, attacks on its personnel, and fake news. It distributed 3 million meals in one day earlier this week.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
