One of the leaders of a humanitarian organisation that distributes food and resources to war-torn Gaza has recently revealed some surprising details surrounding what he believes he has strived for.
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Johnny Moore, executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), argues that one of the biggest barriers to Gaza’s help structures is the current support structure.
“I think the biggest barrier to getting help to Gaza was the corrupt old system that allowed this war to continue, allowing Hamas to steal the aid, sell it to the people of Gazan and save aid for his own fighters,” he said. “And it’s a kind of fatigue like this in this process, and no one tries to do something different.”
Moore, a veteran spokesman for a long time who has worked in conservative and Christian spaces, said the GHF is trying to try new ways to distribute aid. Through this “another approach,” he said his organization is trying to protect and provide assistance for free.
“Frankly, I have never found Israel to be a barrier to that process,” Moore said. “To our surprise, the biggest barriers for us are actually the international system, the United Nations, the world food program. The type of organization that has inexplicably chosen to boycott us, as they have never boycotted Hamas.”
He accused Hamas terrorists, Bandits and others of receiving assistance from other groups of trucks when they arrived in the Gaza Strip, leading to confusion and preventing them from protecting resources to those in need.
“This is impossible for this to happen,” Moore said. “Even so, the international community…they don’t care. Well, what we do is, “You can actually do this differently. You can give assistance on a scale without extending the conflict, without detouring. It can be free.”
He continued, “We can do it right, we can do it well, we can do it well, and this should be celebrated by the world. For some reason, it’s not.”
Moore believes that one of the reasons the GHF faced a public relations struggle is because Hamas’s collaborative and intentional campaign undermines their efforts.
“Hamas wants to scare Gazan to get food on our distribution site,” he said. “So they’re constantly spreading lies about our distribution sites and the massacre and violence of such things. They want to prevent people from coming. And they’re even threatening our local workers and threatening their lives to prevent them from helping us.”
However, Moore said Gazan was coming “by thousands” for assistance and expressed gratitude to God that Hamas’ efforts were not working to stop people from seeking help from the GHF.
“The second thing they want… they just want us to close,” Moore said. “But we are not going to close. Our mission is really, really simple. We have to feed the people of Gaza.”
The GHF faces criticism of its lack of independence from Israel as both the US and Israel support its efforts. Moore spoke to CBN News, who is not ashamed of his ties with Israel, noting that he also has close ties with various Arab countries.
Additionally, NBC News reported that GHF has limited distribution sites making it extremely difficult to crowd control and access. Others have claimed that Palestinians are being targeted as they travel towards these distribution sites, and Hamas-run Health Ministry has claimed to media that 79 people have been killed recently and 51 have died near the GHF distribution area.
The GHF opposes these claims and reports that it distributes millions of meals. The organisation also noted that, as reported by CBS News, the Ministry of Health in Gaza and some media outlets did not report on UN sites experiencing similar issues.
Regardless of claims or criticism, Moore’s focus is to ensure that people get the food they need to survive. According to Moore, the resources are distributed through a “secure distribution center,” a mix of American contractors and locals, providing security and organised distribution of resources.
Christian leaders said he is volunteering his time to help his efforts, as they believe that the Middle East desperately needs peace.
“I’m devoted to peace in the Middle East,” he said. “This is my passion.”
Moore continued. “It’s a monumental and monumental job. It’s a huge, huge amount of time. … And unfortunately, rather than doing it in the international community, we’re fighting them all at every stage.
Reuters reported this week that the GHF is expected to receive $30 million from the US government via the US International Development Grant. Click here to learn more.
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