The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial Israel-U.S. backed aid distribution body established to replace major humanitarian organizations in the Strip, announced the completion of its emergency mission in Gaza.
In July, over 170 NGOs issued a joint statement noting that over 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 wounded in the process of accessing necessities at the four GHF distribution sites, according to Gaza health officials. The statement called to end Israel’s aid distribution program in the Strip and revert to UN-led mechanisms.
Close
Palestinians carrying Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid boxes in June. Credit: AFP/-
Palestinians carrying Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid boxes in June. Credit: AFP/-
“Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” said the statement, which was signed by such organizations as Oxfam, Doctors without Borders, Save the Children and Amnesty International. “The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023.”
The GHF released a statement noting that it delivered “187 million free meals directly to civilians living in Gaza – a record humanitarian operation,” which was able to operate “direct delivery to civilians without interference from Hamas or other actors,” and “preventing looting and diversion.”
“From the outset, GHF’s goal was to meet an urgent need, prove that a new approach could succeed where others had failed, and ultimately hand off that success to the broader international community,” stated GHF Executive Director John Acree from Tel Aviv, adding that the time for that hand off “has now arrived,” following the creation of the Civil-Military Coordination Center to oversee the cease-fire in Gaza.
Rare footage from one GHF food distribution site, filmed by Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar over the course of two weeks in late May and early June, was obtained by Haaretz, showing constant gunfire and Gazans scrambling to secure food for their families.
“When I was there, I called it the Gaza Olympics,” Aguilar told Haaretz. “When the IDF released the secure line, the security hold for the people to come to the site, it’s just a giant rush and the survival of the fittest, the people that get there first to get the aid. And most of the time, women and children get nothing.”