US legal advocacy organisation puts Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on legal notice

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) announced on Wednesday it had notified the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) of being potentially legally liable for complicity in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians.

In a letter to GHF’s executive chairman, Johnnie Moore, CCR warned GHF that if it did not cease its operations in Gaza, it could face civil litigation or criminal prosecution in different countries and legal action before international bodies. 

CCR senior staff attorney Katherine Gallagher said Israel had “used the denial of food, water, and other basic necessities to carry out its genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza” for the last 20 months.

“As Palestinians now face mass starvation, Israel has teamed up with GHF to make accessing food not only dangerous and potentially deadly but also a tool of forced displacement,” she said.

“If GHF continues its militarized aid operations, it must be prepared to face the legal consequences, whether in the US or beyond.”  

In late May, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza and turned over distribution efforts to GHF, whose four sites are primarily located in the south.

United Nations experts have said the plan aligns with Israel’s goal of the forced displacement of Palestinians as well as shrinking, if not eradicating, the UN’s role in Gaza.

Nonetheless, the US State Department is considering giving GHF, whose funding remains opaque, $500m.

GHF, unlike the UN-run system it was designed to replace, coordinates its operations closely with the Israeli government.

Since it started operating at the end of May, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded while seeking food at sites, which are guarded by US private military contractors and overseen by Israeli forces. 

From the beginning of its war on Gaza, Israel has denied residents basic necessities, including food, water, and electricity. In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including starvation as a method of war. 

More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now qualify as an act of genocide.