Johnnie Moore says Gaza food deaths are ‘disinformation’ despite mounting body count and UN outcry

The head of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has pushed back against claims his organisation is responsible for a wave of deaths in Gaza, despite growing international fury and more than 500 Palestinians killed near its aid distribution points.

Johnnie Moore, who leads the US and Israeli-backed aid group, broke his silence in a BBC interview, insisting: “We are not killing people.” He accused the UN and other agencies of spreading unverifiable disinformation, saying: “100% of casualties being attributed to GHF? That is simply not true.”

But his defence comes as horror stories continue to emerge from Israeli-controlled zones where GHF distributes food. Eyewitnesses and medics have reported repeated incidents of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds of desperate civilians, many of whom had walked miles for a meal.

Since GHF’s launch in late May, dozens were killed in two incidents on 1 and 3 June, sparking international condemnation. The UN’s humanitarian chief, Antonio Guterres, declared the operation “inherently unsafe”, warning: “The search for food must never be a death sentence.”

The Hamas-run health ministry claims over 500 have been killed and more than 4,000 injured near GHF zones. Distribution points are all inside militarised areas, raising fears that the aid operation may be doubling as bait.

In a damning report published Friday, Haaretz cited unnamed IDF soldiers who said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians to scatter crowds. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled the report “a malicious falsehood”.

The IDF denied giving shoot-to-kill orders, saying it only used “warning shots” and pledged to improve fencing, signage, and alternate access routes. But their statement did little to stop the global outrage.

Moore tried to shift the blame: “We believe it is not only IDF bullets causing deaths,” he said. “We don’t have any evidence of people dying at our sites.”

Yet the denial rings hollow for many, especially as journalists are banned from Gaza by Israeli authorities, making independent verification nearly impossible.

Moore claimed GHF reviews each incident, often finding “nothing happened,” and added: “People need to understand—it’s disinformation that people are being killed at GHF sites.”

He further alleged that UN aid trucks were routinely hijacked at gunpoint before GHF took over, a claim the UN strongly denies, saying there’s no evidence of such widespread theft.

Pressed on the group’s effectiveness, Moore admitted the scale of aid is still “insufficient” and acknowledged that 50 million meals is not even one meal per person per day. But he insisted it was “better than nothing” and said he hoped to eventually partner with the UN.

“The mission is clear. We just want to feed Gazans,” Moore said.

But critics argue that mission is failing. Despite Israel easing an 11-week blockade, aid flows remain drastically low, and experts say famine still looms across Gaza.

Meanwhile, Washington has doubled down. On Thursday, the US State Department announced $30 million in direct aid to the GHF—its first confirmed financial backing for the group.

The backdrop to this chaos remains the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages taken. Israel’s brutal military campaign that followed has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

In the eyes of many, GHF has become a symbol of the West’s deepening complicity in Gaza’s agony. For families still counting their dead, the question remains: Is a sack of rice worth a bullet?