A damning new report has accused the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation of transforming food aid into a weapon of control, forcing Palestinians to surrender biometric data in exchange for bread and flour. The rights group Skyline International described the scheme as a “death trap” that has stripped aid of its neutrality and turned hunger into a bargaining chip.

According to the brief, families queuing for food in Gaza are coerced into facial scans and biometric registration under a system presented as “voluntary”. It warned that the bread line has been turned into a checkpoint, where a sack of flour has become bait for surveillance. In this context, a child’s hunger carries a devastating cost: the loss of privacy, autonomy and dignity.

The report further revealed that private U.S. military firms have carried out violent operations at aid sites, using advanced weaponry under the guise of maintaining order. Facial recognition cameras at distribution points allegedly feed images directly into joint U.S.–Israeli control rooms, while international consultancy firms have played a role in designing the system’s digital infrastructure.

Skyline said this militarisation of aid has replaced the UN-led relief system with a privatised model that exposes Palestinians to coercion and violence. It called for the dismantling of the foundation, a ban on the forced collection of biometric data in humanitarian contexts, and the suspension of private security companies whose activities deepen Gaza’s humanitarian tragedy.