The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) made a public offer to the United Nations and other international aid organizations on Wednesday to deliver all their current aid for free.
The organization’s offer comes in response to aerial video released yesterday by Israel’s COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), showing 950 fully loaded trucks containing 2,500 tons of food, sitting untouched inside Gaza near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Recent media reports indicate that the UN agencies, including WFP, and other humanitarian partners have struggled to deliver aid in Gaza, with nearly all of their aid convoys being looted and or otherwise confiscated. Critics say the underlying problem for the UN and partnering humanitarian groups is not access, it’s operational failure.
By contrast, GHF says it is delivering at scale and is currently the only consistent source for aid in Gaza, delivering more than 87 million meals to date, averaging between two to three million meals per day.
“We’ve been sounding the alarm for weeks on the need for more aid in Gaza while we’ve seen aid by the UN and other organizations being piled near the borders but not being delivered,” said GHF Interim Director John Acree. “Our top priority is feeding the people of Gaza, and we’re prepared to adjust our supply chains, work with the UN or other teams to organize the packaging and transport, and distribute it to those in need, or we can work with organizations to provide security to ensure food reaches its intended destination. We are ready and able to start today.”
This offer follows a letter sent yesterday to UN Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher from GHF’s Executive Chairman Johnnie Moore, reaffirming the foundation’s willingness to collaborate with the UN and other international aid organizations to avoid more abandoned aid and restore a functioning, accountable aid pipeline.
“Our door remains open. We are prepared to support the safe and accountable delivery of UN aid to Gazans who desperately need it. But time is short. People are starving, and food is sitting idle out of their reach. We cannot let politics stand in the way,” wrote Moore.