The chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has accused the United Nations of acting like a “mafia,” as negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas drag on with little progress.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, who heads the U.S. and Israeli-backed aid group, said the UN and other agencies have been working to undermine the GHF despite its delivery of 70 million meals to Palestinians since May. He claimed Hamas has also targeted the GHF because its food convoys bypass the militant group’s control.
“This is absurd,” Moore told Fox News Digital on Sunday, “Hamas didn’t want 70 million meals in Gaza for the people they claim to care about. And the UN is behaving like a mafia, sabotaging us instead of working with us.”
Talks in Doha over a 60-day truce and the release of hostages have faltered, with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the deadlock.
Meanwhile, fighting continues to devastate Gaza, where Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least 40 people, according to local civil defense officials. In another strike, which the Israeli military coined as a ‘missile misfire’, eight children were killed and dozens more wounded when they went collect water.
The GHF, set up earlier this year with Israeli military coordination, has defended its armed escorts and direct distribution as more effective than traditional UN-led aid convoys, which it argues are vulnerable to Hamas interference. UN agencies and more than 200 other humanitarian groups have criticized the GHF’s methods, calling them “militarized” and contrary to global humanitarian standards.
Moore rejected UN claims that hundreds of civilians have been killed near GHF sites, accusing the organization of repeating Hamas-supplied figures.
“The UN is lying. They take statistics from the Hamas-controlled health ministry without scrutiny,” he said, insisting no deaths occurred at GHF distribution points.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency needs partners in Gaza but expects them to follow principles of neutrality and independence.
“We cannot do humanitarian work alone, but we ask partners to operate under globally accepted standards,” Dujarric said.
As the war enters its 21st month, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens. A UN warning this weekend said fuel shortages are threatening aid operations, hospitals, and food supplies.
Moore said the GHF was ready to cooperate but urged the UN to “stop playing political games.”
“We’re here with our hand extended. The decision to work together is theirs,” Moore declared.