A US State Department oversight body is investigating the now-defunct Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) for its use of millions of dollars in emergency aid funding, according to reports. The inquiry focuses on a $30 million grant announced last June, intended to distribute aid in Gaza, raising questions about the extraction of surplus value from humanitarian efforts amidst ongoing conflict.
The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is examining “what money was spent and how,” including “which bucket it came from, and how it was doled out,” one source familiar with the inquiry told the Financial Times. The investigation also scrutinizes GHF’s aid pricing and other services purchased with funds received from the State Department, pointing to potential capital accumulation through inflated costs.
Profiteering from Crisis
Sources familiar with GHF’s operations indicated that the organization used State Department funding to purchase food and logistics. One individual stated that GHF had paid “significantly more for food than the US had previously paid in the region,” suggesting a mechanism for siphoning public funds intended for the dispossessed. The GHF, which was backed by the United States and Israel, has since ceased operations.
A GHF spokesperson, who requested anonymity, asserted that the organization was not aware of the OIG inquiry and maintained that food had been purchased “at reasonable prices.” The spokesperson acknowledged that internal GHF documents noted particularly high transport costs, attributing them to the nature of the ongoing war. This explanation highlights how the conditions of conflict, often exacerbated by imperial interventions, can be leveraged to justify increased expenditures, potentially masking other forms of financial gain.
State Sanctioned Operations
The State Department had drawn from its humanitarian assistance funds for the $30 million grant provided to GHF. A US official confirmed this allocation, while simultaneously urging other countries to provide additional funding for the aid group, demonstrating the state's role in directing capital flows under the guise of humanitarianism. The GHF spokesperson also stated that the organization was “in the process of developing a plan to reduce transport costs when [Israel’s government asked it to suspend operations] in October because of the US-brokered ceasefire.” This reveals the direct influence of state actors, including the imperial garrison power, on the operational capacity of aid organizations.
The Limits of Oversight
Concerns about the grant were raised by several senators in July 2025, less than one year ago, who wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation for the large grant, any waived rules, and GHF’s other funding sources. The senators explicitly stated, “There should be no American taxpayer dollars contributing to this scheme,” framing the allocation as a potential misuse of collective resources. The OIG, while declining to comment on specific investigations, noted a February 2026 audit, conducted in the same year, of the department’s “efforts to provide food assistance to the West Bank and Gaza.” This post-facto scrutiny underscores the inherent limitations of reform efforts within a system designed to facilitate such transactions, often only addressing symptoms after wealth has been concentrated.