While the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) reports that it is successfully distributing food and supplies in Gaza, on May 27 Jens Laerke, spokesman at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva that the UN is unable to independently confirm that the aid is being distributed. OCHA officials insist that the UN has massive supplies just outside the Gaza border ready to be delivered, but these agencies have been denied access. Gaza needs 500-600 truckloads of supplies per day, and even the rose-colored reports from GHF show a totally inadequate response to the crisis. While GHF declined to state how much aid they delivered, they did release a photo of the distribution. It showed a half-dozen men, each carrying one 40-pound box of aid. No other people are around.
The GHF describes its mission as “alleviating the suffering” of Gaza’s population by the swift delivery of aid, ensuring that the territory’s population can live with “dignity.” However, on the day before their opening, two senior leaders of GHF, executive director Jake Wood and chief operating officer David Burke resigned. Wood issued a statement later in the day that the group’s plans, limited by Israeli restrictions, could not be consistent with what he called the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” John Acree, a former USAID official, will take over GHF. They explain that Acree has experience in “stabilization programming and civil-military coordination.” GHF claims to provide pre-packaged rations of food, costing $1.30 per meal, as well as hygiene kits and medical supplies, through “tightly controlled corridors monitored in real time to prevent diversion.”
GHF is funded through Truist Bank and JP Morgan Chase, which GHF states, “ensures our funds are handled by institutions that are trusted worldwide and have the infrastructure necessary to support our complex, multinational financial operations.” The foundation also claims to have $100 million which was given from an “unnamed” EU country. The GHF’s board of directors includes Nate Mook, former CEO of World Central Kitchen; Raisa Sheynberg, vice president of government affairs and policy at MasterCard; and Jonathan Brown, founder of the banking firm Current Capital. The GHF’s advisory board includes David Beasely, former Executive Director of the UN’s World Food Program and earlier Governor of South Carolina; Bill Miller, former Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service; and Mark Schwarz, former U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
UN agencies and major aid groups see humanitarian aid being weaponized to conform to political objectives and any actual food distribution militarized by armed private contractors at paramilitary supply “hubs,” where decisions will be made as to whom the supplies will be offered. At least three of the hubs are located in unpopulated areas in southern Gaza, which means that the civilians will have to move long distances to receive the aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he would like to force the Palestinians to move to a “sterile zone” in Gaza’s far south. The Norwegian Refugee Council and other organizations have said that the plans risk violating international law; moving the population around based on aid could amount to forced displacement. Hamas has threatened to attack GHF operations and has warned Palestinians that GHF is being used by Israel to transfer the Palestinian population to other areas and even to third countries.
