On June 27, Haaretz — Israel’s left-center newspaper — published claims by Israeli troops stationed at four “aid” centers managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that their officers ordered them to intentionally shoot to kill starving, unarmed civilians trying to get food for their families, many after walking for miles. The latest reports, as of July 3, counted over 600 Palestinians killed at GHF sites, with over 4,000 more injured.
Palestinians walk to collect aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025.
The soldiers reported that these killings were not provoked, and they were not the result of soldiers attempting to quell riots, as the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) have claimed. The GHF sites, partially funded by the U.S. government, are described by over 170 legitimate aid groups as “killing fields.”
Non-government organizations — including Oxfam, Save the Children, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders and the Norwegian Refugee Council — issued a joint declaration on July 1 in Geneva calling for an immediate end to the U.S.-Israeli-backed GHF and for the restoration of legitimate United Nations-led aid and humanitarian efforts. (The Cradle, July 1)
Set up by Israel in late May, with U.S. sponsorship, the GHF sites are surrounded by tanks and IOF snipers. The GHF program was never intended to provide enough aid to people starving in Gaza. CounterPunch points out that “only four aid sites were set up, and each is open for only one hour a day.” (July 2) The four militarized distribution sites replaced 400 aid centers managed by experienced NGO staff.
‘Slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid’
Haaretz described the Nazi-like character of these attacks. One soldier, quoted in The Cradle article, said: “Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day.” Civilians are “treated like a hostile force — no crowd-control measures, no tear gas — just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars.”
The IOF soldiers, in a practice they called “Operation Salted Fish,” created a deliberate and systematic operation to weaponize the food distribution. Doctors Without Borders calls the GHF a “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”
A veteran soldier interviewed by Haaretz also described how private contractors working in Gaza were paid 5,000 shekels (roughly $1,500 U.S. dollars) for every house they demolished. “They’re making a fortune,” the soldier said. “These are areas where Palestinians are allowed to be — we’re the ones who moved closer and decided [they] endangered us.”
“It’s deemed acceptable to kill people who are only looking for food,” one soldier remarked bluntly. (Haaretz, June 27)
Several IOF soldiers interviewed named Brigadier General Yehuda Vach, head of Division 252, as the ‘architect behind this policy,’ saying that Vach gave the explicit orders to open fire on civilians gathering for aid trucks.
It has been clear that Israel’s plan since the beginning of the war has been to bomb and starve the Palestinians in Gaza. Their sudden cessation of the ceasefire in March, blocking of aid trucks, shutting off water and electricity and the dismantling of experienced aid distributors makes this clear. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza has been the plan all along.
Boston Consulting Group’s role
The GHF was projected to cost $550 million, and so far the U.S. has contributed only $30 million. It is unclear where the rest of the funding is coming from, although it is known that the Israeli government plays a major role. On July 2, Defending Rights & Dissent filed two Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover what forces are behind this heinous project. (rightsanddissent.org, July 3)
While the funding source is murky, an investigation by Middle East Eye reported on July 5 that the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which earlier disavowed its involvement, had a multimillion-dollar role in designing and implementing the scandal-plagued GHF starting in October 2024 when the company was contracted to perform $4 million worth of work over the next seven months. (middleeasteye.net, July 5)
BCG — notorious for decades of union busting efforts for major corporations and municipalities — provided the “financial modelling for the post-war reconstruction of Gaza, commissioned by Israeli backers” who saw the GHF as a way to pressure 500,000 Palestinians to leave Gaza voluntarily at the estimated cost of $9,000 per person. BCG calculated that rebuilding Gaza, if all the Palestinians living there remained, would cost $23,000 per person. GHF was all about maximizing profits.
Dismantle the IOF!
Haaretz has laid the blame for the massacres at GHF sites on the officers who gave the orders. Netanyahu wants to claim these never happened, but the reality that becomes increasingly clear to anyone paying attention is that the entire system of Zionism in Israel is based firmly on European and U.S. settler-colonial racism that has indoctrinated Israelis to consider the Palestinians — whose land they have occupied — as less than human and not worthy of life.
The Israeli Zionist state is a terrorist killing machine that should be abolished. While the resistance forces in Gaza are increasingly mounting more casualties against IOF soldiers — three to five incidents per day in Khan Younis — the international solidarity movement with Gaza must up our demands.
The so-called Gaza “Humanitarian” Foundation, a foundation of Zionism, is why Workers World says — Abolish Zionism!
“Abolish the IOF!” like we say “Abolish the police!”
Palestinian land for Palestinian people!