For months much of the world, including the U.S. legacy media, demanded that Israel allow more aid into Gaza, and now that it has done so, the Tuesday edition of CBS Mornings is not satisfied. According to co-host Gayle King and correspondent Debora Patta, you simply cannot trust a new group that uses American contractors for security to deliver the aid, even as Patta admitted the usual system simply didn’t work.
King set the scene, “A controversial new aid group began operations in Gaza today. The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is backed by the U.S. and Israel and uses American contractors for security, but the U.N. and other critics say this group could lead to the displacement of even more Palestinians. Recently, Israel has been blocking most aid to Gaza as it works to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. Debora Patta has the latest.”
After highlighting 5-year-old Jalal Al-Shaikh, Patta got to the GHF, “Under pressure from its allies, including the U.S., Israel began allowing in a trickle of humanitarian aid last week. The newly set up U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation also says it began distributing food yesterday. It’s unclear how much or where, but its director, Jake Wood, resigned over the weekend, saying they could not adhere to humanitarian principles of neutrality while fulfilling their mission.”
Patta tried to back up Wood’s concerns by claiming, “It's a criticism that's also been leveled by the U.N. amid concerns the foundation could be used by Israel to depopulate the north of Gaza by concentrating aid distribution in the south. The situation is so desperate that this mother and child are scavenging for food.”
There are two fundamental riddles to the Gaza aid question. First, is just how truthful is the U.N.? Patta cites them as an unimpeachable moral authority. However, it was exactly one week ago, that United Nations Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher created a global sensation when he told BBC Radio that if aid wasn’t let into Gaza immediately, then 14,000 babies would die in the next 48 hours, when the actual report he was citing said there would be about 14,000 cases of acute malnutrition over the span of a year in children six months to five years old . In short, he literally spread fake news.
The second problem is how do you distribute aid and make sure that it actually gets to the people who need it without Hamas stealing it? Although the word “Hamas,” never crossed Patta’s lips, she did point out the old system simply wasn’t working, ‘“Even when they bring aid, nothing reaches us,’ said Islam Abu Taymiyyah, ‘we’re like stray dogs collecting food from trash. If we don't, we starve.’”
CBS admits the U.N.-dominated system wasn’t working but basically demands the U.S. and Israel adhere to it anyway because the alternative might be too pro-U.S. or Israel. That is the definition of madness.
Here is a transcript for the May 27 show:
CBS Mornings
5/27/2025
8:13 AM ET
GAYLE KING: A controversial new aid group began operations in Gaza today. The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is backed by the U.S. and Israel and uses American contractors for security, but the U.N. and other critics say this group could lead to the displacement of even more Palestinians. Recently, Israel has been blocking most aid to Gaza as it works to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. Debora Patta has the latest.
DEBORA PATTA: The harrowing cell phone footage of this 5-year-old Jalal Al-Shaikh Khalil trudging through rubble, the makeshift shelter engulfed in flames after an Israeli strike hit the school where she and her family fled to escape the war in Gaza. The little girl survived. Her mother and five siblings did not.
When she returned to the scene of the attack, she found her sister's abandoned flip-flop and broke down sobbing. "They all died," she wept, "After a rocket fell on top of them.
Under pressure from its allies, including the U.S., Israel began allowing in a trickle of humanitarian aid last week. The newly set up U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation also says it began distributing food yesterday. It’s unclear how much or where, but its director, Jake Wood, resigned over the weekend, saying they could not adhere to humanitarian principles of neutrality while fulfilling their mission.
It's a criticism that's also been leveled by the U.N. amid concerns the foundation could be used by Israel to depopulate the north of Gaza by concentrating aid distribution in the south. The situation is so desperate that this mother and child are scavenging for food.
"Even when they bring aid, nothing reaches us,” said Islam Abu Taymiyyah, “we’re like stray dogs collecting food from trash. If we don't, we starve."
For CBS Mornings, I'm Debora Patta.
