The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced Monday it will wind down its mission in the Gaza Strip after delivering more than 187 million free meals without a single case of Hamas theft, marking the end of an operation launched in late May.
According to Fox News, GHF’s effort began on May 26 with a simple goal: get food directly into the hands of civilians while keeping Hamas from diverting supplies.
The group says it also delivered “more than 1.1 million packs of ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) for malnourished children,” providing critical aid during a period of severe food insecurity.
Executive Director John Acree said the organization’s model has achieved what it set out to prove.
“From the outset, GHF’s goal was to meet an urgent need, prove that a new approach could succeed where others had failed, and ultimately hand off that success to the broader international community,” Acree said in a statement.
He said the creation of the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), along with renewed engagement from global aid groups, signaled that the time had come to transition GHF’s responsibilities.
“GHF has been in talks with CMCC and international organizations now for weeks about the way forward, and it’s clear they will be adopting and expanding the model GHF piloted,” he said. “As a result, we are winding down our operations as we have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans.”
Acree emphasized the risks his team faced to keep aid flowing.
“From our very first day of operations, our mission was singular: feed civilians in desperate need,” he said. He praised the “dedicated and compassionate team,” including former U.S. service members, humanitarians, local Gaza workers, and partners like Samaritan’s Purse, who worked “amidst an active war conflict.”
The accomplishment drew pushback from some United Nations agencies, several of which had faced their own criticism over corruption and alleged aid diversion to Hamas.
Some U.N. officials accused GHF of exacerbating conflict, including claims that its sites contributed to civilian casualties.
The commissioner-general of UNRWA went as far as declaring that GHF “provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of #Gaza.”
A whistleblower later told Fox News that “the IDF is actively helping the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation get food into the hands of civilians while U.N. agencies, including WFP and OCHA… are inhibiting the distribution of such aid.” The U.N. dismissed the allegation as “delusional.”
Throughout its four-and-a-half months of operations, GHF insists that “not a single GHF aid truck was looted.” The group attributed its success to “American-led solutions and compassion,” crediting the Trump administration for encouraging innovation and providing early confidence in the mission.
GHF leaders say they are prepared to restart operations if new needs arise and will remain active as a registered NGO. But Acree acknowledged that ending the mission carries a personal weight.
“What our team will miss the most are the friendships and camaraderie developed with thousands of Gazans,” he said, noting the trust built with women and children who frequented GHF aid sites. “We will miss them dearly.”
Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel left more than 1,200 people dead, including over 40 Americans, and 251 kidnapped.
President Donald Trump’s post-war Gaza plan calls for Hamas to be fully disarmed and excluded from any future governance of the territory.
