UN's corrupt aid 'mafia monopoly' preserves Hamas control of Gaza, GHF head tells 'Post'

Yahoo

a day ago

As Hamas continues to terrorize innocent Gazans and aid workers alike, the UN insists on operating under broken systems that give Hamas a safety net, GHF director Johnnie Moore says.
WASHINGTON, DC- 'Feeding people is the most Christian thing you can do.' That's how Johnnie Moore, the evangelical leader now overseeing the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, summed up his mission—one that has delivered over 1.2 million food boxes to Gazans in just five weeks, even as Hamas attacks, UN criticism, and a second regional war tried to derail it.
In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, Moore pulled no punches, denouncing what he described as a corrupt and complicit international aid system that empowered Hamas for years.
'I've watched a broken system that professes to help people when very often it only helps itself,' Moore said. 'Hamas controlling aid isn't the exception—it's the rule.'
The foundation he leads has become a flashpoint in Gaza. It operates large-scale distribution centers aimed at bypassing Hamas and getting food directly to civilians—a mechanism Moore claims is already serving roughly half the population of the Gaza Strip, or between 800,000 and 1 million people.
'The first day we opened, Gazans kept asking us: 'Is this really free?' They weren't used to that.'
The mission, launched quietly with American support, now finds itself at the center of international controversy. According to Moore, Hamas is attempting to minimize the foundation's role in ongoing hostage talks in Doha—proof, he says, that the group feels threatened by the initiative.
'It's incredibly telling that the first thing Hamas wanted to negotiate was preserving the UN's monopoly on Gaza aid,' Moore said.
The foundation has also faced physical threats. Moore confirmed that two American volunteers—both retired veterans—were injured last week when Hamas operatives threw Iranian-made grenades at one of the distribution centers. The IDF, he noted, evacuated the wounded.
'They threw Iranian grenades at American aid workers who were just feeding Gazans. The next day, we showed up and delivered millions more meals,' Moore said.
Moore reserved some of his sharpest words for the United Nations and its leadership.
'To this day, the Secretary-General hasn't replied to my letter asking him to condemn Hamas's murder of our 12 local Gaza aid workers,' Moore said. 'And now they have the audacity to act like we are violating humanitarian law?'
He accused UN agencies of maintaining a monopoly that, in practice, enabled Hamas to control nearly every food parcel that entered the Strip before the war.
'The UN has acted like a mafia when it comes to controlling the food in Gaza,' Moore said. 'They fueled a system for years that suppressed the people of Gaza. We're disrupting that.'
Moore added that the foundation has evidence Hamas is now targeting aid recipients—stealing food from civilians after they collect it.
'We actually have video of Hamas terrorists intercepting aid beneficiaries and taking their food as they return home,' he said. 'But the scale of diversion is a fraction of what used to happen. This isn't theoretical. It's real. And it's working.'
Moore says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is supported not only by the Trump administration and the State Department, but also quietly by staff within major aid organizations who are fed up with the system.
'We have a growing list of whistleblowers from the international aid community,' Moore said. 'They believe the entire sector is corrupt from the top down.'
He recently met with EU leaders in Brussels and said the mood was mixed. 'Many admitted the old system empowered Hamas—but they're still too invested in it to change,' he said.
Despite Hamas threats and international pressure, Moore insisted the foundation will continue operating.
'We're not a political organization. We're here to feed people. And we're here to stay,' he said. 'Whatever disinformation is spread, whatever politics are played, we'll keep delivering meals. That's the mission.'
And in that mission, Moore said, is hope—not just for Gaza's civilians, but for what could come next.
'When people finally receive food without fear—when Hamas doesn't hand it to them—they start to feel something else: freedom.'