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🌊 The Two Stories of Gaza’s Aid Crisis
The UN says hundreds of people are being killed at Gaza aid sites; the GHF says its plan is working
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By Max Frost
Last Friday, the UN human rights division released a major finding: At least 798 people had been killed near Gaza aid sites over the past six weeks. To blame, it said, was the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Yet that same day, the GHF publicized a different finding: Namely, that it was getting Palestinians far more food and medicine than the UN had been able to.
In today’s deep-dive, we look at whether the GHF is getting aid to the Palestinians – or stopping that from happening.
Until March, the UN oversaw aid distribution in Gaza. That month, though, Israel enacted a blockade, alleging that Hamas was stealing aid and selling it to secure funds and entrench its power. Israel demanded a new aid mechanism. In May, one came forward: GHF.
GHF was first registered as a nonprofit in the US this February, claiming to have $100M in funds from a single undisclosed EU government. It has not disclosed the other individuals or countries who allegedly fund it. While the US backed it diplomatically, the US did not provide funds to it until a $30M approval last month.
In May, GHF took over aid distribution in Gaza – a step the US and Israel said would alleviate Gaza’s aid crisis.
Formerly, under the UN-led mechanism, the UNRWA (the UN’s Palestine division) and other humanitarian groups operated 400+ aid distribution points across Gaza. They would bring aid into Gaza and then distribute it to these points across the Strip, although lawlessness and Israeli military restrictions often made this impossible.
Israel – which has long alleged that UNRWA is sympathetic to Hamas – said that mechanism was ineffective and resulted in Hamas looting and reselling aid. In line with its vision, GHF began distributing aid in May.
Where the UN had 400+ sites, GHF would have four – three in southern Gaza; one in central Gaza. The sites would be staffed by both American and Palestinian workers, with Israeli troops and military contractors stationed several hundred meters away for security. It would tell Palestinians where to queue and then give them aid packages once they reached the front of the line.
From the beginning, though, it was one crisis after another.
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Editor’s Note
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter. A number of readers had asked for some non-US politics content, and today you got it. Hopefully, you learned something new.
Tons of feedback on yesterday’s Epstein story. Check it out below and let us know your thoughts on today’s article.
Andrea wrote:
DC is not a swamp, it is quicksand. All hope in truth, morality, transparency and a level playing field for everyone is sucked down and lost forever. I had hope that a brash outsider would be able to drain some of the swamp, but you can’t drain quicksand. Especially if you are thrashing about in it yourself.
Stacy from Arkansas wrote:
Jeffrey Epstein was apparently an awful person and he is dead. End of story. I am truly sorry for all those victims but he is dead. Most people in the US didn’t even know this guy existed until his wickedness came out.
Anonymous wrote:
It’s very obvious to me that people from all ends of the spectrum were on the list from the democrats to the republicans and even tier-2 celebs. Whenever someone on the news says they don’t see what the big deal about a child trafficker who had big connections, I automatically assume they were on the list as well
And Chris from Nebraska wrote:
This whole situation keeps getting stranger, and honestly, I’m still undecided on how much weight to give it all.
On one hand, maybe it’s not the conspiracy some make it out to be. The infamous “list” might not even exist in the way we’ve imagined, Epstein may have taken his own life, and the video evidence could end up being underwhelming or inconclusive.
On the other hand, there’s still a nagging sense that something deeper may be at play. Maybe Epstein was silenced, maybe certain individuals got too close to truths that powerful people didn’t want exposed. In that kind of scenario, the cost of pushing further—whether threats to family, political upheaval, or global instability—might have simply become too high.
As wild as it sounds, I do believe there are people with immense power who will go to extreme lengths to protect it. And history hasn’t exactly given us reasons to dismiss that possibility out of hand.
See you tomorrow,
Max and Max