{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-schatz-senators-launch-investigation-into-trump-administrations-plans-for-gaza-aid", "Warren, Schatz, Senators Launch Investigation into Trump Administration\u2019s Plans for Gaza Aid", "2025-12-08", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren, Schatz, Senators Launch Investigation into Trump Administration\u2019s Plans for Gaza Aid\n\nSenators concerned that \u201caid distribution system that would be similar to the deadly sites run by the failed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation\u2026 more than 1000 Palestinians were killed near these sites while seeking food.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe public deserves a clear understanding of how US troops and diplomats will facilitate the rapid distribution of aid in Gaza and relieve Palestinians of an ongoing hunger crisis.\u201d\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) led Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in launching an investigation into the role of the U.S. military in distributing humanitarian assistance to Gaza following the October ceasefire.\n\nOn October 17th, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the opening of a Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Israel as the \u201cmain coordination hub for Gaza assistance.\u201d The center is operated by 200 US troops and diplomatic staff. Despite CENTCOM\u2019s inexperience with addressing humanitarian crises of this scale, the CMCC has been touted as a focal point for NGOs, private sector actors, and international security forces to coordinate the delivery of aid.\n\n\u201cWhile CENTCOM has extensive experience in stabilization and intelligence missions, we are concerned that the addition of this broad humanitarian mandate executed by military units with little experience in addressing the kind of humanitarian catastrophe facing Gaza, as well as the lack of Palestinian officials involved in the CMCC to help develop plans for the peaceful transition of Gaza, will have significant consequences to the CMCC\u2019s success,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\nMoreover, reports have emerged that CMCC officials are considering recreating an aid distribution system similar to the deadly model run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). GHF relied on heavily armed contractors to distribute aid at a limited number of sites, where more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed while seeking food. In prior ceasefires the UN operated more than 400 sites.\n\nThe Senators called on officials at State and the Department of Defense (DoD) to reject this proposal, writing, \u201cThis is the wrong approach: hungry people should not be killed trying to feed their families. To ensure reliable food access in Gaza, the US should avoid building a handful of militarized aid distribution sites.\u201d\n\nSince the October ceasefire, the Netanyahu government has blocked $50 million worth of assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, and hundreds of aid trucks with food have been barred from entry. Over the course of the conflict, reported restrictions have included blocking medical supplies like crutches and sleeping bags because they were green or \u201chad zippers.\u201d The Senators urged US officials to reject the Netanyahu government\u2019s aid restrictions, writing, \u201c(f)or the CMCC to succeed in coordinating aid delivery to Gaza, it is essential to eliminate Israel\u2019s arbitrary restrictions on humanitarian assistance.\u201d\n\nWhile Trump\u2019s 20-point peace plan emphasizes the necessity of a pathway to Palestinian statehood, there is no reported involvement of Palestinian officials from a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA) in the CMCC or other Palestinian technocrats who could offer key insights on future governance questions of Gaza, its transition away from Hamas\u2019 militant governance, or how Palestinians in Gaza should be included in crafting a prosperous future for themselves.\n\n\u201cThe CMCC presents an opportunity to ensure the full implementation of the ceasefire and transition to a durable, civilian government in Gaza,\u201d the senators concluded. \u201cBut DOD and State Department officials should not replicate the harm of the GHF system and instead facilitate professional humanitarian actors to address the crisis.\u201d\n\nSenator Warren has been a strong advocate for humanitarian assistance to Gaza:\n\nOn November 24, 2025 Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Markey, and 98 members of Congress urged the Trump administration to work with both Israeli authorities and international partners to push toward rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza.\n\nOn November 4, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Austin Dahmer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, on her concerns about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need to ensure Palestinians get desperately needed aid without interference.\n\nOn October 9, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) wrote to the Department of State (State Department) requesting an explanation for the department\u2019s failure to provide timely consular services to American citizens who were detained while on the Global Sumud Flotilla.\n\nOn September 25, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to intervene with the Netanyahu government to protect the safety of peaceful civilian members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a group of vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has reportedly been facing multiple attacks.\n\nOn September 3, 2025, Senator Warren, Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) demanded clarity from the Department of State (State) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on its decision to award $30 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).\n\nOn June 20, 2025, Senator Warren sent a new letter to the Secretary of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) raising her concerns about the Department of State\u2019s reported plan to give $500 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).\n\nOn May 22, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led 28 senators in introducing a resolution calling on the Trump Administration to use all diplomatic tools at its disposal to bring an end to the blockade of food and lifesaving humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza.\n\nOn May 9, 2025, Senator Warren and colleagues urged President Trump to take an active role in pressing for humanitarian aid and a return to ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas in order to ensure Israel\u2019s security and end more than 15 months of devastating conflict in Gaza.\n\nOn May 6, 2025, Senators Warren, Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) called on U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro to launch a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the federal government\u2019s compliance with laws that require the U.S. to ensure recipients of U.S. assistance respect human rights and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.\n\nOn April 23, 2024, Senator Warren released a statement on the passage of the national security supplemental package supporting life-saving humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and criticizing the provision of more aid for Israel without additional conditions and prohibition of funds to UNRWA.\n\nOn March 22, 2024, Senator Warren and colleagues pressed the Biden administration to find that the Netanyahu Government\u2019s assurances regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza do not meet the \u201ccredible and reliable\u201d test required by National Security Memorandum (NSM)-20.\n\nOn March 11, 2024, Senator Warren and colleagues urged the Biden administration to follow the law by halting arms shipments to Israel while humanitarian aid was prevented from entering the Gaza strip.\n\nOn February 2, 2024, Senator Warren and colleagues pressured the Biden administration to encourage Israeli officials to take five specific steps to significantly increase urgently needed humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.\n\nOn December 7, 2023, Senator Warren and lawmakers announced that they are working on an amendment to require that the weapons received by any country under the proposed national security supplemental are used in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": 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