State Department approves $30 million in funding for Gaza

27/6/2025 6:23

The U.S. State

Department has approved $30 million in funding for the Gaza

Humanitarian Foundation, the State Department said on Thursday,

calling on other countries to also support the controversial

group delivering aid in war-torn Gaza.



"This support is simply the latest iteration of President

Trump's and Secretary Rubio's pursuit of peace in the region,"

State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters

at a regular news briefing.



Reuters was first to report the move earlier this week.



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

for-profit U.S. military and logistics firms to transport aid

into the Palestinian enclave for distribution at so-called

secure sites.



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.



Earlier this month, GHF 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 foundation’s executive director,



Johnnie Moore



, an evangelical preacher who was a White House adviser in

the first Trump administration, said in a post on X on Thursday

that the group has delivered more than 46 million meals to

Gazans since it began its operations in May.



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, four

sources told Reuters earlier this week.



The United States could approve additional monthly

grants of $30 million for the GHF, two sources said, all of whom

spoke on condition of anonymity.



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.



There is an acute shortage of food and other basic

supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel

that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants.