By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is giving $30 million to a controversial humanitarian group delivering aid in war-torn Gaza despite concern among some U.S. officials about the month-old operation and the killing of Palestinians near food distribution sites, according to four sources and a document seen by Reuters.
Washington has long backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation diplomatically, but this is the first known U.S. government financial contribution to the organization, which uses private U.S. military and logistics firms to transport aid into the Palestinian enclave for distribution at so-called secure sites.
A document reviewed by Reuters showed that the $30 million U.S. Agency for International Development grant to GHF was authorized on Friday under a “priority directive” from the White House and State Department. The document showed an initial $7 million disbursement had been made.
The United States could approve additional monthly grants of $30 million for the GHF, said two of the sources, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
The White House referred questions about the matter to the State Department. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation declined to comment on the U.S. funding or the concerns of some U.S. officials about the operation.
Israel’s embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the $30 million U.S. grant.
In approving the U.S. funding for the GHF, the sources said the State Department exempted the foundation, which has not publicly disclosed its finances, from an audit usually required for groups receiving USAID grants for the first time.
Such an audit “would normally take many, many weeks if not months,” said one source, who is a former senior U.S. official.
The GHF also was exempted from additional vetting required for groups supplying aid to Gaza – ruled by Iran-backed Hamas militants – to ensure that there are no links to extremism, the sources said.
The GHF is working in Gaza with a for-profit logistics firm, Safe Reach Solutions, headed by a former CIA officer, and its security contractor, UG Solutions, which employs armed U.S. military veterans.
VIOLENCE CONCERNS
Reuters reported this month that U.S. ally Israel had asked President Donald Trump’s administration to give $500 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Sources said the money would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is being folded into the State Department.
Some U.S. officials opposed giving any U.S. funds to the foundation over concerns about violence near aid distribution sites, the GHF’s inexperience and the involvement of the for-profit U.S. logistics and private military firms, said the four sources.
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid from both the U.N. and GHF operations.
“The majority of the casualties have been shot or shelled trying to reach U.S.-Israeli distribution sites purposefully set up in militarized zones,” said senior U.N. aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, Jonathan Whittall, on Sunday.
“Others have been killed when Israeli forces have fired on Palestinian crowds waiting for food along routes,” he said. “Some people have also been killed or injured by armed gangs.”
In response, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Tuesday that it had so far delivered 40 million meals in Gaza but that the U.N. and other groups were having difficulty distributing aid due to looting of their trucks and warehouses.
A GHF spokesperson said none of the group’s trucks had been looted.
“Bottom-line, our aid is getting securely delivered. Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome the U.N. and other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza. We are ready to collaborate and help them get their aid to people in need,” a GHF spokesperson said.
Earlier this month it halted aid deliveries for a day as it pressed Israel to boost civilian safety near its distribution sites after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were killed. It says there have been no incidents at its sites.
The U.N. has long described its aid operation in Gaza as opportunistic – hindered by Israel’s military operation, access restrictions by Israel into and throughout Gaza, and looting by armed gangs. The U.N. has stressed that when people know there is a steady flow of aid, the looting subsides.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay in WashingtonEditing by Michelle Nichols and Matthew Lewis)
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