Israeli restaurant owner turned Gaza aid rep defends controversial GHF : NPR
People carry rescue supplies from Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group of aid supported by the United States which bypassed the longtime system led by the United Nations in the territory, while the displaced Palestinians return from a center for aid distribution in the Gaza Central Strip, on June 8.
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Like Aviv, Israel – an Israeli entrepreneur who directs fashionable restaurants around the world now promotes a new food distribution group in the Gaza Strip which attracts international controversy – while Gaza health officials report hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands of people injured by Israeli troops while approaching food distribution sites.
Shahar Segal – whose World Restaurant Empire includes the Michelin star shmoné in Manhattan – is now affiliated with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is his spokesperson for Israeli media.
Invited to comment on violence near food sites and criticism around the group, Segal defended the organization.
“I believe that this is the only right and possible way to deliver food to the Gazans without feeding the Hamas terrorist machine. It is clear,” he said in a text at NPR.
On Tuesday, this Tuesday, Gaza health officials reported 44 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops while approaching GHF food sites. One of them was a 23 -year -old factory worker, Osama Tarifi, who was killed while he was trying to bring a GHF food package home because his family had lacked provisions, said his uncle.
“Her mother was of course against her” because of the danger, said her uncle, Mohammed Tarifi, at NPR.
The United States is committing funding and discrediting murder reports
The United States government previously said that it had not financed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But now the United States is traveling to directly support the group. The Trump administration has authorized $ 30 million in funding for GHF, according to documents from the State Department obtained by NPR.
Internal American government’s documents recognize the media coverage of “criticism of other humanitarian organizations that the risks of GHF are accomplices of alleged Israeli war crimes as concern is developed with regard to Palestinians killed near food distribution sites”.
At the same time, the documents exhibit detailed discussion points for American government spokesperson praising the “incredible work” of the GHF – and expressed skepticism about the murders, alleging that they are promoted by “points of sale linked to Hamas”.
Johnnie Moore, an American evangelical leader and campaign advisor to the first electoral offer of President Trump in 2016, took over as the chief of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, after his first director, a veteran American sea, resigned, saying that the group could not respect humanitarian principles.
The controversy surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
At the end of May, the Israeli initiative and supported by the United States began to distribute food packages in Gaza, where serious Israeli limitations for food resulted in rampant hunger.
Israel says that Hamas flies and sells food to the UN and other traditional aid agencies, and that GHF distributes food to civilians under Israeli military supervision without Hamas involvement.
The UN and humanitarian groups that traditionally manage Gaza help refuse to work with GHF, saying that it serves Israeli military objectives and endangers civilians.
According to eyewitnesses who spoke with NPR, the distribution of the group’s aid was chaotic and dangerous. At least 410 people were killed by Israeli soldiers while trying to reach GHF food sites, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.
“The militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism of Israel is in contradiction with international standards on the distribution of aid,” said the spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office Al-Keetan in a statement. “The armament of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to survival services, constitutes a war crime and, in certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has repeatedly denied that Israeli troops have shot Palestinians near the GHF aid distribution areas. Israeli military statements claim that the soldiers fired on numerous occasions against people who approached his troops several hundred meters from food sites.
The path from the Israeli restaurant to the Gaza Gastron initiative
Segal, 61, and his long -standing trading partner, the famous Israeli chief Eyal Shani, heads Miznon, a restaurant in Mediterranean street cuisine and several high -end restaurants in Tel Aviv. Their restaurant group, The Good People Group, opened dozens of restaurants in New York, London, Paris, Vienne, Melbourne and elsewhere.
Segal has already had a successful career in television advertising. After the attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the war which followed from Israel to Gaza, Segal brought its brand expertise to the Israeli army, working with it to improve its public messages around the war.
“Since the start of the war, I have been involved in what soldiers call” influence “. Some people call it plea.” It is the essence of this war. You fight an enemy who wins on the narrative forehead. The only objective of Hamas is to survive long enough in tunnels so that its history prevails. It is difficult to understand – but crucial to grasp – what kind of war we are confronted. “
According to a person familiar with the activities of GHF who did not have permission to publicly share the information, Segal has established links with senior Israeli military officials, who may have paved the way for his current role. Segal refused to comment on the complaint.
People transport rescue supplies from Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the Gaza Central Strip on June 8.
EYAD BABA / AFP via Getty Images
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A second person familiar with GHF’s activities, which was not allowed to speak with the media, said the Israeli government asked Segal to join the group because of its restaurant history, to project the image that the initiative has a nutritional value for the Gazans. Segal denied the complaint.
Segal told NPR that there was “no link” between his food companies and GHF. Shani, his chief’s trading partner, did not respond to a request for comments.
The Israeli spokesperson defends the group’s objectives
“The Foundation undermines the efforts of the United Nations, makes its mechanisms out of words and shows in the world that there is a better and more effective means which does not play in the hands of Hamas,” wrote Segal in a text in the media, including NPR.
Segal said GHF has already distributed millions of meals in Gaza.
However, many residents of Gaza say that they are faced with a serious danger approaching the distribution points of the GHF due to overcrowding and the threat of shooting of Israeli troops stationed nearby.
Even those who arrive early often leave the food sites empty -handed while food is exhausted quickly. GHF announced in Arabic on Thursday on its Facebook page that one of its food distribution sites was open to collect food packages – and eight minutes later, it was short of food supplies.
“We understand that it is such a heartless enterprise,” said Hani Almadhoun, Palestinian-American, who helps manage the food project of Gaza Sus Kitchen in Gaza. “This is not the way of doing humanitarian aid. … Palestinians end up being dead whenever there is food distribution.”
The GHF refused to answer questions about who finances it. While some Israeli media reported that the Israeli government is a secret funder, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied it publicly.
Private armed security entrepreneurs hired by an American company Guard Gust GHF’s Distribution Sites.
According to a person familiar with the activities of GHF who did not have permission to publicly share the information, Segal has established links with senior Israeli military officials, who may have paved the way for his current role. Segal refused to comment on the complaint.
Israeli food writer Hila Alpert believes that Shahar Segal joined GHF with good intentions.
“I think if Shahar does, it’s only because he has his heart [in] The right place, “she said.” If someone brings food to Gaza, it’s better than nothing, right? “”
Anas Baba contributed to this story by Gaza City.
