Hamas Places Bounties on Gaza Aid Workers, Including Americans, Says U.S.-Backed Group
Hamas has placed bounties on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation workers, aiming to disrupt the U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid network, which has delivered over 51 million meals despite violent attacks. The escalation, including the killing of eight aid workers, underscores Hamas’s intent to maintain control over Gaza’s aid distribution at the expense of civilian welfare.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.- and Israeli-backed organization delivering critical aid to Gaza, reported on June 29, 2025, that Hamas has escalated its campaign to disrupt the region’s only functioning aid network by placing cash bounties on its American security personnel and Gazan staff. The group’s interim Executive Director, John Acree, condemned the threats, stating, “Our aid workers on the ground continue to carry out extraordinary work under unimaginable conditions. We are aware of credible reports that Hamas is openly targeting the GHF and those who work with us. According to these reports, Hamas has placed bounties on both our American security personnel and Palestinian aid workers, offering cash rewards to anyone who injures or kills them.” Acree added that Hamas has deployed armed operatives near humanitarian zones to sabotage aid distribution efforts.
Despite these threats, GHF celebrated a milestone of distributing over 51 million meals to Gaza’s civilians. “We are keenly aware that we remain targets of Hamas’s brutality for simply trying to feed the people of Gaza in the middle of a war,” Acree said. “Yet we will persist. The men, women, and children remind us why we are here: to feed the people of Gaza and stand with them in their time of need.” The organization faced a tragic setback on June 12, when Hamas ambushed a bus carrying over two dozen Palestinian aid workers near Khan Yunis, killing eight and injuring others. “These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others,” GHF stated, describing the attack as “heinous and deliberate.”
The Israeli Government Press Office condemned the international community’s silence, stating, “Hamas reveals its ultimate goal yet again: seize complete control over the Gazan people and their rights... Will this attack also be ignored?” GHF, operational since late May 2025 with $30 million in U.S. funding, employs former humanitarian and military officials to serve up to one million residents. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce defended the initiative, saying, “The real story here is that aid, and food, is moving into Gaza at a massive scale. This is a complicated environment, and the story is the fact that it’s working.” On social media, GHF declared, “We started the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to provide aid where others couldn’t or wouldn’t. 51 million meals later, we’re still here, despite the threats, the attacks, the cowardice of Hamas.” Another post defiantly stated, “To Hamas: You can threaten us, shoot at us, even kill our people, but you will never starve Gaza into silence. We are not leaving.”