A senior Trump administration official told the Washington Free Beacon that the U.S. government has monitored the situation and will protect Americans on the ground in Gaza
Hamas and its terror affiliates in the Gaza Strip plan to attack American aid distribution centers, Telegram messages confirmed by a senior U.S. official show, threatening to draw the United States into direct conflict with Palestinian militant factions.
“Resistance security is authorized to firmly confront anyone who cooperates with the enemy or its agents, and agents and mercenaries will be legitimate targets,” Hamas affiliates said in a statement issued late Sunday to “Palestinian resistance factions” active on Telegram, a social networking site terrorist groups regularly use to coordinate their activities.
The terrorists directed their threats at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a joint U.S.-Israeli aid effort formed in February with private contractors to replace the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is known to collaborate with Hamas.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that the Trump administration has monitored the situation to protect Americans working with GHF in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.
“These reports of Hamas threatening the GHF and its workers, many of whom are Americans, are deeply concerning,” the senior administration official told the Washington Free Beacon. “Hamas should think twice. We are watching closely.”
The Palestinian terrorist groups claimed that GHF centers established throughout Gaza “have become traps targeting our hungry people. Their goal is to end UNRWA’s mission and turn the Palestinian cause into a humanitarian one to facilitate forced displacement and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”
They further demanded “the resumption of aid distribution through UNRWA—and international institutions, given their legal competence and expertise that guarantee the lives and dignity of our people.”
Israel formally banned UNRWA from operating in January after it became clear that the U.N.-backed aid organization employed dozens of Hamas terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 attacks and helped keep Israeli hostages hidden in Gaza. The Trump administration supported this move, citing additional evidence showing that Hamas systematically steals UNRWA supplies and resells them on the black market to generate profits.
GHF said in a Monday statement that it is aware of Hamas’s “explicit threats against GHF’s American and Palestinian workers who deliver humanitarian aid and the Gazan people who accept that aid.”
“At the same time,” the group added, “Hamas endorsed the United Nations, an organization it has routinely stolen from, as the only legitimate providers of aid.” GHF also urged the international community to rally around its aid efforts and protect those delivering much-needed aid to the Gazan population.
“The contrast is telling,” GHF said. “After delivering over 10 million meals, GHF has built a system that delivers aid directly to the people who actually need it. Despite these threats, we will continue to deliver urgent humanitarian relief with resolve and purpose.”
GHF began its operations two weeks ago, distributing approximately 11,495,902 meals at multiple sites across Gaza—even as Hamas attempts to orchestrate violence in and around these locations.
A week ago, Hamas gunmen opened fire on Palestinian civilians and attempted to blame the attack on Israel. The Israel Defense Forces quickly debunked the claims, but not before they had spread across social media and Western news outlets.
This article was originally published at freebeacon.com
