American military veterans volunteering with the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation say they continue to face threats from armed groups, including Hamas operatives and criminal elements, while delivering food to Palestinians in Gaza nearly two years into the war.
The veterans — Jason Murray, Scott Weimer and Brandon Zielinski — told Fox News Digital they have helped organize and protect distributions since the foundation began operating in May 2025. The group says it has delivered more than 160 million meals to people in Gaza and recently launched a reservation system intended to manage demand and deliver food directly to families.
Murray, a former U.S. service member, described the operation as improvised and evolving. "We kind of built a plane in flight… not even knowing where we were going to land," he said, describing the challenges of distributing aid in a densely populated and contested area. He said the foundation coordinates with the Israel Defense Forces on access and security to try to keep armed actors away from sites while allowing civilians to reach assistance.
Weimer and Zielinski, also U.S. veterans, said their military experience helped them organize teams, work through language barriers and maintain discipline under pressure. Weimer said volunteers routinely see indications that Hamas operatives are present in areas where distributions occur but that the immediate focus remains getting food to civilians.
Zielinski described specific security incidents at so-called secure distribution sites. "We've had pistols seen before, there's been AKs seen before. There's grenades that went off," he told Fox News Digital. He said teams are briefed by the IDF on the security situation for the 48 hours before a shift, and that volunteers record patterns of suspicious behavior and pass information to local and international intelligence officials in efforts to identify and detain bad actors.
Volunteers said the demand for food is high and distributions can be chaotic. Weimer praised colleagues who manage crowds and security, saying he had "never once seen any of us overreact to what would be, I think, to anybody, a very scary situation." Zielinski said the teams try to balance speed and safety, and that they document incidents so security agencies can act.
The foundation's reservation system, introduced as part of efforts to make deliveries more orderly, aims to reduce large crowds and enable targeted distribution to families. Organizers said the system was developed amid calls for innovation in wartime deliveries and is intended to improve accountability and reach.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is one of several international and local organizations operating in Gaza. It describes itself as U.S.-backed and has drawn praise for the volume of aid delivered and criticism over its operating methods and security arrangements. The veterans said they have faced both direct threats and indirect obstruction from armed individuals who try to exploit scarcity or target staff and local partners.
The volunteers urged the public to seek information and said media coverage has at times mischaracterized the work on the ground. "These people that are here, these military veterans that lived a long honorable life, we would never be a part of something [like] what I've seen in the media," Weimer said.
Humanitarian access in Gaza has been constrained throughout the conflict by security concerns, damaged infrastructure and restrictions on movement. International agencies and relief organizations have documented severe food insecurity and repeated disruptions in aid delivery. The veterans said their work is driven by a desire to reach civilians in need and called on the international community to support efforts to expand safe, predictable humanitarian access.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Fox News Digital reported the interviews with Murray, Weimer and Zielinski.
As distribution efforts continue, volunteers said they will carry on documenting security incidents and coordinating with authorities to try to keep sites safe while scaling deliveries to meet persistent need in Gaza.