A U.S.-backed group approved by Israel to take over aid distribution in Gaza says it has started operations, despite opposition from the U.N. and most humanitarian groups and the unexpected resignation of its executive director.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is the linchpin of a new aid system that would wrest distribution away from aid groups led by the U.N., which have carried out a massive operation moving food, medicine, fuel, tents and other supplies across Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
The new mechanism limits food distribution to a small number of hubs under guard of armed contractors, where people must go to pick it up. Currently four hubs are being set up, all close to Israeli military positions. Three are in the far south where few Palestinians are located.
GHF said it moved trucks of food to its hubs on Monday and began distribution, without giving details on how much aid was distributed. It said the flow of supplies would be “increasing each day.” It has said it plans to reach more than 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week. Gaza has a population of around 2.3 million.
Jake Wood, the American heading the effort, said Sunday night he was resigning because it was clear the organization would not be allowed to operate independently.
Who’s behind GHF?
GHF publicly launched early this year and is run by a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials. It has the support of Israel and the United States.
It’s unclear who is funding GHF. It claims to have more than $100 million in commitments from a European Union government but has not named the donor. The U.S. and Israel have said they are not funding it.
What’s their plan?
The GHF’s plan to centralize distribution through hubs is similar to ones designed by Israel.
It says each of its initial four hubs would serve meals for roughly 300,000 people. It has said it will eventually be able to meet the needs of 2 million people. It said it will create more hubs within 30 days, including in the north, but did not specify their exact locations.
Aid will be delivered with the help of private subcontractors transporting supplies in armored vehicles from the Gaza border to the hubs, where they will also provide security.
Photos show the hubs are located in central Gaza and Rafah, near Israel military-controlled strips. But almost the entire population is currently in northern Gaza — where no hub is currently located — or in central Gaza. They would have to cross through Israeli military lines to reach the hubs near Rafah.
Why aren’t aid groups on board?
The U.N. and aid groups say that the plan would “weaponize aid” for Israel’s military and political purposes.
They say Israel would have power to determine who receives aid and to force the population to move to where it is being distributed, emptying large parts of the territory. That would potentially violate international laws against forced displacement.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that under the aid mechanism, Gaza’s population would eventually be moved to a “sterile zone” in Gaza’s far south. Israel also says that after Hamas is defeated, it will implement a plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to relocate the territory’s population outside Gaza
See also:
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-israel-distribution-hamas-e517f3dc7e73b3d52bec47ee31fc20df
Posted by Naurgul
7 comments
Lines are piling up despite Hamas barking at their people to not collaborate with the vile plan of receiving food from the ‘occupation force’.
This is good. Hopefully more people will get food. Hopefully more food will flow. hopefully more Gazans can see things can work without Hamas and against their orders.
Haha people are mad a Zionist is happy Gazans are finally getting food. Seems to trigger the entire brigade
So aid groups are against distributing aid and somehow that’s ok. Yes I understand they’ll be doing so under conditions that favor one side yet they will be distributing aid. It’s unfathomable that we’ve normalized putting Palestinians in 2nd place on the priority list because politics come first.
Regardless of your opinion on the conflict, it’s simply wild we’re not condemning aid groups for getting into politics.
edit: bombarded by downvotes with barely any replies. I guess my comment triggered the bots somehow?
Every day Zionists get bolder because there’s no consequences to their actions. Now Netanyahu is openly boasting about a plan to ethnically cleanse Northern Gaza. And yet most of the world refuses to acknowledge the genocide that’s happening, with some countries even actively supporting it.
History books will remember this as the first time a genocide was widely known and openly declared and yet allowed to happen. And that’s apparently the only consolation we’ll get after Palestinians are either killed or forcefully displaced and Gaza becomes a Israeli beach with Trump resorts.
This seems like complex money laundering. Neither the US or Israeli government actually care if any aid is effective so waste is completely acceptable for the impression that they aren’t actively trying to starve people.
The concentration camp workers fled because they were overwhelmed by starving civilians who wanted food and water.
It was a stupid plan that took less than a day to fail.
If only there were aid organisations that have experience working in Gaza and a proven track record that could take over aid distribution.
But how will Israel arbitrarily detain civilians if they’re not in control of the distribution of aid?
Here’s why this project, as helpful as it seems, is actually engineered for military purposes as well as an outright war crime.
Humanitarian organizations including the United Nations has every right to not help.
• Palestinians are being kettled near the Egyptian border for …. guess what….a possible transfer out of Gaza to Egypt.
• The three or four distribution points are far away from the people that need it. The ones that can get to it have to travel very far. Palestinians are tired unnourished and forcing them to travel far is cruel and inhumane.
• Having people required to show their identification makes this discriminatory, against the foundation of humanitarian assistance and international humanitarian law. –All human beings have rights to humanitarian assistance.
• Already, the organization handling it is being overrun as I type this.
• Switzerland, where this organization is HQ’ed is under investigation for POTENTIALLY breaking international humanitarian laws.
I could go on, but this is enough information to justify what international humanitarian organizations decided as well as some governments.
EDIT: added POTENTIALLY for war crimes.
It wouldn’t be disimilar if Russia caused even more murder and damage than they already have to civilians, to have a final push, and then say all humanitarian aid is being provided by China and no one else is allowed in. Wouldn’t that seem a bit fucked?
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