September 11, 2025: In a live press briefing today, GHF Spokesman Chapin Fay spoke to the influx of demand at our sites and threats from Hamas that has elevated the threat landscape in Gaza.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining today. I’m Chapin Fay, spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
We’re holding this briefing today against the backdrop of an intensifying Israeli offensive in Gaza City. That offensive is pushing thousands of people south into areas where GHF operates and it’s putting growing pressure on our distribution sites.
Today, I’m going to share with you some details of what we’re seeing on the ground.
In the last few days alone we’ve seen a 15-20% increase in attendance at our secure distribution sites. The demand is growing rapidly but the population we’re now seeing is different. Many have never been to our sites before. They’re unfamiliar with our process and that unfamiliarity is creating confusion. Not violence, but increased disorder.
We’re seeing more people pushing forward, running ahead and cutting the line which causes regular attendees especially women who know the system and rely on it to stand up for themselves. That self-organized rhythm we’ve worked so hard to build is being shaken.
We’ve worked tirelessly to make our Distribution Sites places where women feel safe – physically and emotionally. They come because they know they’ll be treated with respect and dignity. We’ve created spaces designed around their needs including women-only lines and medical care for their children. This trust is precious.
As far as what’s driving this disruption, part of it is scale and urgency of displacement. But part of it is also a deliberate campaign by Hamas to destabilize our operations and scare people away.
We’re now seeing a different population coming from Gaza City. This includes, for example, many widows who have shared with members of our team that their husbands were killed in the conflict. And what’s following them is a troubling new pattern of threats, fear tactics, and deliberate misinformation aimed at sabotaging our operations.
Just today, at our SDS3 site during a women-only distribution. Our team observed what began as a small group of military-age men surveilling the site, stepping away to make phone calls and then returning in larger numbers. This group eventually grew to several hundred.
In real time, we heard from trusted local sources that Hamas was planning to rush the site. We also received credible information that Hamas operatives were planning to infiltrate women-only distributions dressed as women. And that’s not all. Local women reported that Hamas has been spreading false information. Telling people that SDS3 will be closed next week.
What does that mean? That they’ll attack it? That it’s no longer safe? That it’s no longer ours to operate?
We don’t know exactly. But we know people are visibly scared.
They understand Hamas is targeting the site. And they’re asking the same question we are. Why threaten the only operation feeding people at scale in Gaza?
Unfortunately, these Hamas threats are forcing us to change how we operate. Today, after successfully serving 4,000 women. We were preparing to serve another 1,500 when we made the very difficult call to shut down SDS3 early due to these escalating threats and as of now, we will not be operating a women-only distribution tomorrow anywhere.
That’s not a choice we want to make, and not a decision we made lightly. It’s a decision forced by Hamas.
Let me be absolutely clear. Hamas is not just threatening us. They’re threatening their own people.
The women of Gaza who are simply trying to feed their children are being intimidated and endangered by the very group that claims to represent them. This is deliberate. This is strategic. And it is cruel.
What we know from the local population who comes to our sites, day after day, is that Hamas does not control the southern population the way they did in Gaza City. What they’re trying to do now is disrupt our model because if they don’t control the food. No one should. That’s the game. And it’s the Palestinian people who will pay the price.
We continue to call on the IDF to facilitate humanitarian access across Gaza and allow us to expand, including into the north. We again call on the United Nations and international organizations – whose aid is being blocked or stolen – to partner with us so food reaches the people, not Hamas. Imagine how many people we could feed if we were working together.
We remain committed to doing everything we can, every single day, to serve the people of Gaza with compassion, safety and integrity. But we cannot do it alone – not in the face of a coordinated campaign to destabilize relief and to turn food into a weapon. Thanks for being here today.”
Please follow @GHFUpdates for regular updates.
EMAIL US AT [email protected] IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR TO CONFIRM INFORMATION RELATED TO GHF’S HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN GAZA.
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