UN holds first talks with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid Gaza starvation

UN officials and representatives from the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) met in New York this week at the request of the Trump administration, in the first known talks between the two sides.

The meeting, held on Wednesday at the US mission to the UN under Chatham House rules and without phones, was attended by officials from the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the International Organisation for Migration, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. US diplomat Morgan Ortagus and GHF chair Johnnie Moore represented the foundation.

According to Axios, participants agreed to tone down public criticism of each other but failed to reach any deal on cooperation in Gaza.

The UN has accused the GHF of "militarised" aid distribution in breach of international law, noting that Israeli forces and GHF security personnel have fired on starving Palestinians waiting for food. Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured in such incidents.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had previously barred UN agencies from engaging with the GHF, while UN special rapporteurs on Tuesday called for the foundation to be dismantled, warning its operations were being used for "covert military and geopolitical agendas" in serious violation of international law.

Tamara Alrifai, Director of External Relations and Communications at UNRWA, whose operations have been banned by Israel, told The New Arab that despite the meeting, the UN's position on Gaza and the GHF has not changed.

"While the meeting that took place allowed for a discussion and an exchange between a group of representatives of UN entities and the GHF, the UN is committed to continuing to apply the humanitarian principles in the way it conducts its work," she said.

"The UN is the best placed international entity to organise a humanitarian response of the scale and scope that the acute crisis in Gaza requires," she added.

News of the meeting emerged alongside reports that US President Donald Trump berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his denial of starvation in Gaza.

NBC cited former officials as saying Netanyahu phoned Trump after the US president contradicted his claims, insisting famine was a "Hamas fabrication". Trump allegedly interrupted him and began shouting, saying aides had shown him evidence of starving children.

One former official described it as "a direct, mostly one-way conversation" in which Trump told Netanyahu the US "owns" the crisis because of the GHF.

The World Health Organisation says at least 99 Palestinians in Gaza have died of starvation this year, while nearly 12,000 children under five suffer acute malnutrition.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has announced plans to increase GHF aid points in Gaza from four to 16.

But on Friday, Israel said it would reoccupy the Gaza Strip starting with Gaza City, sparking fears that the war, which has killed over 61,000 Palestinians and wounded 152,000, will intensify and worsen the humanitarian catastrophe.