Discussions aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appear to have reached a standstill, despite optimism from key intermediaries, including President Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, that a resolution is forthcoming.
Multiple sources familiar with the situation, whom Digital has interviewed, indicate that several issues continue to pose significant impediments to achieving lasting peace in the Gaza Strip and ensuring the release of all hostages.
Reportedly, one of the primary points of contention revolves around the provision of aid to Palestinians and precisely who should be responsible for distributing this critically needed assistance.
“This is a complex political environment right in the midst of ceasefire negotiations,” Reverend Johnnie Moore, Chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), informed Digital. “My understanding is that on the first evening of the ceasefire talks, one of the chief demands raised by Hamas and their negotiators was the elimination of the GHF.
“Which should tell you something,” he elaborated. “Hamas did not want 70 million meals of food to reach the Gaza Strip for the population they claim to care about – this is absurd.”
Following an approximately three-month blockade on aid into the Gaza Strip, the GHF – an aid mechanism backed by the U.S. and Israel – was granted permission in late May to commence food deliveries with support from the Israel Defense Force (IDF), to ensure that food trucks were not overwhelmed and pillaged by the Hamas terrorist group.
The GHF, which has encountered considerable opposition for its deviation from conventional humanitarian aid methodologies, has asserted that its convoys have been far better protected from Hamas assaults than other delivery vehicles, thereby ensuring that aid genuinely reached Palestinian civilians.
Hamas has a history of leveraging humanitarian assistance as a means of control over Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and as a recruitment tool, even deterring individuals from accepting GHF food aid for their families in late May, telling them they “will pay the price, and we will take the necessary measures.”
Moore confirmed that the GHF has distributed approximately 70 million meals to between 800,000 and 1 million Palestinians.
However, reports have consistently emerged alleging that Palestinians converging on the four distribution sites have faced extreme perils, and on Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Office stated its belief that nearly 800 people had been killed near aid locations.
The Geneva-based office reported that it had documented around 615 fatalities in the vicinity of GHF sites and 183 near other aid convoys, with spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani indicating that the majority of these deaths resulted from “gunshot injuries.”
The U.N. did not immediately respond to Digital’s inquiries regarding whether the IDF or Hamas was responsible for the gunfire, and whether these deaths occurred as a direct consequence of civilians seeking aid, as a result of chaotic disturbances outside distribution centers, or if these fatalities transpired amidst the ongoing conflict while civilians were en route to distribution points.
The IDF stated earlier this month that, following an investigation into civilian casualties reported at aid distribution sites, it had issued revised directives to its South Command based on “lessons learned.”
This week, the GHF announced a second phase of its aid delivery system, which aims to mitigate the threats civilians encounter when seeking assistance by distributing supplies directly through community leaders across Gaza – potentially reducing the need for civilians to travel.
Nevertheless, the GHF vehemently disputes the U.N.’s reported death toll figures, and Moore maintains that no deaths have occurred at or near their distribution sites.
“The U.N. is fabricating. They are simply fabricating. They are using statistics that originate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, and they are disseminating those statistics without any scrutiny whatsoever,” Moore told Digital.
“We are aware that Hamas has routinely misrepresented civilian casualty figures since the commencement of this conflict. We know that Hamas does not distinguish between the deaths of Hamas militants and civilians, and… we understand that from the very beginning of the GHF’s operations, Hamas made a deliberate decision that the most effective way to end the GHF was to claim that our sites were death traps,” he added.
The U.N., conversely, affirms that it verifies its own informants and gathers evidence through “various reliable sources, including medical and humanitarian organizations.”
Yet, critics of the U.N. continue to question its credibility following the apparent discovery of at least nine employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) who were reportedly connected to the attack on Israel, an event that led to the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of another 250 individuals – 50 of whom remain captive.
Although the UNRWA Commissioner-General dismissed those employees in October 2024, open animosity persists between the U.N. agency and Israel, and now also with the GHF.
Lazzarini, among others, has also personally advocated for the GHF’s removal from the Gaza Strip.
Moore accused the U.N. of employing “mafia”-like tactics by uniting against the aid program, despite its demonstrated success in delivering millions of meals.
“We wish to collaborate with these organizations, but instead of engaging with us, they have been secretly working to undermine us,” Moore stated. “There is no other way to describe it. The U.N. is behaving like a criminal organization.”
While the U.N. has not formally called for the GHF’s expulsion, it has criticized the organization’s “militarized” approach to aid delivery, a method not considered acceptable by established international standards for humanitarian assistance.
Both the GHF and the U.N. have acknowledged that more aid is not only essential but would also help alleviate the intense security risks associated with obtaining humanitarian supplies.
“I have been very explicit that the U.N. cannot conduct humanitarian work in Gaza alone; we require partners,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric informed Digital. “All we request is that these partners operate under the universally accepted humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence.”
Despite both sides ultimately sharing the same objective, a growing stalemate appears to exist concerning how to provide stable aid for Palestinians who continue to live in extremely dire conditions.
“My mission, and the mission of the GHF, is exceedingly straightforward: simply to feed people. And it should not have generated as much controversy as it has,” Moore commented. “My interest has always been in the ‘day after.’ We must do both.”
“We must plan for the ‘day after,’ and we must address the emergency, and it is time for the United Nations to cease playing political games,” he continued. “We can resolve the problems together.
But we must make the decision to work together. The GHF has already made that decision, and we have reiterated time and again that we wish to work with the international community to reach these people. The decision now rests with them, and we will await, our hand extended,” Moore concluded.