Most Senate Democrats sign letter accusing US-backed aid group of failing Gaza

Most Senate Democrats have signed a letter imploring US President Donald Trump’s administration to step up its role in addressing suffering and starvation in Gaza, while urging the resumption of ceasefire talks and sharply criticizing an Israeli-backed American organization that had been created to distribute food aid.

In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Republican president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, 44 senators say the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created in February with backing from the Trump administration, has “failed to address the deepening humanitarian crisis and contributed to an unacceptable and mounting civilian death toll around the organization’s sites.”

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, calls for a “large-scale expansion” of aid into Gaza channeled through organizations experienced working in the area. It also says efforts for a ceasefire agreement are “as critical and urgent as ever.”

The message is led by four Jewish members of the Democratic Caucus — Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Chuck Schumer of New York, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Brian Schatz of Hawaii — and calls for the return of the roughly 50 hostages, 20 still believed to be alive, held by Hamas since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Schatz says it is “not at all credible” to think the Israeli military — one of the most advanced in the world — is incapable of distributing food aid or performing crowd control.

“They made a choice to establish a new way of doing food distribution,” he says. “And it’s not working at all.”