Humanitarian organizations say that the Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is meeting only a fraction of the need in Gaza. Worse still, they say, it’s pulling focus from much-needed aid that experienced NGOs can offer, while reducing international pressure on Israel to allow aid to reach people in the region.
GHF has been condemned for its ties to the Israeli government and its use of private U.S. contractors for security. It has also been criticized for its lack of experience in humanitarian aid and the violence that has occurred in the vicinity of distribution centers. Who funds the foundation is unclear, and this week, GHF executive chairman Johnnie Moore refused to disclose the donors, though he said that as far as he knows, it’s not funded by the Israeli government. In early June, Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of State is considering giving $500 million to the foundation. Meanwhile, other aid organizations that provide medicine, psychological support, clean water, and sanitation services, as well as therapeutic food for undernourished children and adults, are still struggling to get meaningful quantities of supplies across the border.
GHF says that it distributed 19 million meals to people in the region as of June 12 “without incident,” but Gaza’s health ministry says that 223 people have been killed on roads leading to or near distribution centers. On June 11, GHF said that five of its aid workers had died when Hamas “brutally attacked” a bus carrying more than two dozen members of the GHF team, while they were en route to a distribution center. This information has not been verified by outside sources as of the time of publication.
About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
