Democrats strongly criticize the U.S. State Department for the lack of "basic oversight" of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Senior members of the Democratic Senate have called on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to disclose details regarding the funding and oversight of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), amid concerns over rising death tolls near relief sites, the foundation's clear coordination with the Israeli army, and reports of its use of private military contractors linked to intelligence operations.

The letter, signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), and Peter Welch (D-Vermont), accuses the State Department of "failing to answer basic questions about GHF in a timely manner," and states that "the department's disregard for internal protocols and staff warnings is particularly concerning, given that it is unlikely to be able to conduct basic oversight of the funds it has provided to GHF."

It is noted that the letter, addressed to Rubio, Huckabee, and Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and current head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, was delivered to the State Department over the weekend, according to Senator Chris Van Hollen's statement on Wednesday evening on MSNBC.

The letter reportedly states: "The State Department should immediately cease funding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, redirect the funding, or return it to experienced relief organizations, given the strong and increasing evidence of the foundation's (GHF) failure to fulfill its humanitarian mission."

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the United States spent $60 million in food aid for Gaza, while the State Department has only publicly announced its approval of a $30 million grant to the foundation last June.

A senior official at the department told a Jerusalem Post reporter last month that the department had only sent $15 million by mid-August.

The State Department has not published details of the grant it provided to the foundation, an omission that Senate members consider a violation of U.S. law. The United Nations reported in mid-August that nearly 1,000 Palestinians had died near the foundation's sites since it began operations at the end of May. New concerns arise as the agency was mentioned in a draft plan called "Riviera Gaza," which critics say would provide cover for a large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population, reportedly devised by associates of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). However, the 38-page plan, which has not been officially adopted as U.S. policy, would be one way to meet Donald Trump's calls for "control" over the Gaza Strip.

The plan, first revealed by the Washington Post, also relied on consultants from the Boston Consulting Group (the Boston Consulting Group stated that the work was not approved and that it had fired two senior partners who led the financial modeling of the plan).

In their letter, Democratic senators also criticized the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for its ties to the Israeli occupation authorities and its use of private military contractors who reportedly conducted intelligence operations. The senators wrote: "Humanitarian aid to starving populations should not be a pretext for military intelligence operations."

The senators also requested copies of award documents, internal reviews, export licenses for military services, and other legally required audit procedures for the operations of the global funding foundation, which have not yet been published.