Hundreds of Palestinians killed seeking aid at GHF sites; Trump admin has approved $30 million for the “charity”

August 20, 2025, New York – The Center for Constitutional Rights today filed a lawsuit seeking records from the Trump administration on its funding for the private U.S. outfit currently in charge of distributing aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Operating in close coordination with the Israeli government and U.S. for-profit private military contractors, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites have become synonymous with scenes of chaos and carnage. Since it started operating at the end of May, at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid, with at least 859 killed at or near GHF sites. 

From the beginning of its genocidal assault on Gaza 22 months ago, the Israeli government has deprived millions of Palestinians of food and other basic necessities. Amid the mounting famine that it has created, the Netanyahu government has sidelined the U.N.’s neutral, internationally recognized aid delivery system in favor of GHF’s militarized model, which one U.N. expert described as a “death trap.” Israeli soldiers were ordered to fire on Palestinians waiting for food, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The lawsuit follows the Trump administration’s failure to comply with a  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted last month. It has since become even more evident that GHF, far from alleviating suffering in Gaza, is contributing to the forced displacement, killing, and furtherance of genocide of Palestinians. Perhaps most notably, a retired U.S. special forces officer who worked for a GHF subcontractor UG Solutions in Gaza has come forward with first-hand evidence of war crimes committed by Israeli forces at distribution sites. 

“GHF’s militarized aid distribution model, which it designed in close coordination with the Israeli occupying power, is more suited to furthering the genocide than to providing much-needed humanitarian relief to a starved Palestinian population,” said Ayla Kadah, Attorney and Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Rather than take action to prevent GHF’s ongoing contribution to war crimes, the U.S. government has provided it with a $30 million grant, bypassing even its baseline vetting processes. This shocks the conscience, and Americans deserve to know how their taxpayer dollars are being used to further this dangerous dimension of Israel’s genocidal project.”

GHF’s system was designed to align with the Israeli government’s stated goal of forcibly displacing Palestinians from the north to the south of Gaza, which is a war crime. While the UN’s 400 previous distribution sites sit largely dormant, GHF delivers aid at a handful of sites primarily located in the south in closed military “no go” zones. In fact, internal documents reveal that people involved in the development of GHF understood the risk that it would force the displacement of Palestinians. 

It is against this backdrop that the U.S. State Department approved a $30 million United States Agency for International Development (USAID) grant for GHF, which is chaired by Johnnie Moore, an evangelical preacher who worked in the first Trump administration. GHF has not disclosed information about its funding, yet in announcing the grant, the State Department exempted it from the audit usually required for new USAID grantees. It also waived mandatory counter-terrorism and anti-fraud safeguards and overrode vetting mechanisms, including 58 internal objections to GHF’s application. 

Today’s lawsuit seeks records that could shed light on not only the decision-making process behind the $30 million grant, but also on the creation of GHF, its funding, and how it plans to use the grant. The Center for Constitutional Rights is particularly interested in information that could reveal whether the administration’s distribution of funds has any link to President Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” plan, which would cleanse the area of Palestinians and redevelop it for investors.

In addition to the FOIA suit, the Center for Constitutional Rights is demanding investigation into the legality of GHF’s charter in Delaware, where GHF is registered as a charitable nonprofit. The organization is calling on Kathy Jennings, the Delaware Attorney General, to investigate GHF and sue to revoke its charter on grounds that it is illegally abusing its privileges with its complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. 

For more information, please see the case page.