Gaza humanitarian aid sites close for Eid as Palestinians go hungry

The US-backed so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced on Friday that it has closed all its aid distribution centres across the besieged enclave as Palestinians go hungry on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar.

The group suspended operations after a series of fatal shootings by Israeli forces near the sites, forcing an immediate halt to aid deliveries.

The controversial US-backed initiative to distribute aid in Gaza named an evangelical leader and former adviser to US President Donald Trump as its new chief earlier this week.

Johnnie Moore, a former member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, who has dismissed reports of mass killings at the GHF aid sites as “fictional massacres”, was appointed after the initiative’s former head, Jake Wood, resigned.

The appointment comes as major partners abandon the project amidst the mass killings of Palestinians seeking aid.

Wood cited concerns over the GHF’s ability to adhere to the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence”.

The GHF’s first week of operations descended into chaos, with 100 Palestinian aid seekers killed by Israeli forces at its distribution points in eight days.