Newsmax correspondent Zach Anders reported Friday on “National Report” that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has ceased operations effective immediately.
The abrupt shutdown ends more than 150 consecutive days of direct food distribution to civilians in southern Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war and the ensuing ceasefire period.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists launched a covert attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 and saw approximately 250 taken back to Gaza as hostages.
Anders said GHF’s mission began with a bold vision championed by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who said that private American contractors would be deployed “inside the Gaza Strip.”
He added that the plan aimed to replace “the UN [United Nations] model of driving trucks in and seeing them get looted along the routes.”
The foundation established four secured distribution sites where American teams handed out prepackaged aid directly to Gaza residents.
“That's what we saw for more than 150 days,” Anders said.
“It wasn't perfect, but we saw distribution every single day,” he reported, noting that tens of thousands of Gazans lined up daily along the southern coastline refugee zones.
Each family received meal boxes containing flour, cooking oil, lentils, and other staples modeled in part on UN nutrition guidelines.
“They have a formula, a method to understand how many calories a family needs per day to survive in war zones,” Anders explained.
Each box fed a family of five for roughly three days, and many recipients returned daily to accumulate rations amid periods of widespread shortage.
Anders emphasized that GHF’s work often provided the only stable food pipeline during stretches when Israel temporarily blockaded Gaza’s entry points.
“There were periods … more than 30 days, where there were no trucks entering the Gaza Strip,” he said. “This was a way around that.”
Anders said that Huckabee, who played a key role in launching the initiative, told him via text message that the shutdown “saddens him,” adding that “it was the only thing that worked, but the UN hated it, Hamas hated it, and there you have it.”
Local contractors also noted the program’s economic impact on everyday essentials.
“A lot of the guys were telling me that the best day for the GHF was the worst day for Hamas,” Anders said.
Market prices for flour and sugar dropped “discernibly” whenever free supplies were distributed, and some Gazans told Anders they relied on GHF sites to avoid inflated market rates.
The closure comes as Hamas continues to seize and resell aid from UN convoys, according to Anders, even during the ceasefire period.
He warned that returning to traditional delivery models “is going to be problematic to say the least.”
Gazans frequently described GHF as the most dependable source of food throughout the conflict. With operations now halted, Anders said many fear what the next phase of aid will look like — and whether it will reach those who need it most.
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