The mysterious group militarizing Gazan aid

A new initiative to deliver aid in Gaza has shut down twice in the past few days following scenes of violence and chaos, including more than one fatal shooting.

So what? It is barely a week old. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by both Israel and Washington, was set up as an alternative to UN aid distribution, which until this point has overseen the largest aid effort in Gaza. But the GHF is now under heavy scrutiny due to its

• methods – the foundation distributes aid in Gaza through just a few points overseen by armed private security contractors with Israeli forces on the perimeter;
• makeup – the Boston Consulting Group abruptly announced it would quit the opaque group earlier this week, the first public acknowledgement of the consulting firm’s role in the project; and
• funding – the Israeli lawmaker Yair Lapid has asked whether the state is financing the GHF, while former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has suggested it is.

Netanyahu’s office denies Israel is covertly bankrolling the initiative. The GHF said last month that a Western European country had donated more than $100 million. The country was not named and no one has come forward.

On the ground. The GHF paused aid distribution on Wednesday after the International Committee of the Red Cross said 27 people were killed while trying to collect boxes of food from a GHF distribution point a day earlier. The ICRC said this included 19 declared dead on arrival at its field hospital, part of “a mass casualty influx of 184 patients” mostly suffering from gunshot wounds. All responsive patients were trying to reach an aid distribution point, the ICRC said, adding that this was the fifth similar incident within a week. Eyewitness reports suggest it was the third such incident, and the deadliest.

Behind the lines. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots after several people strayed “from the designated routes” as they approached a GHF distribution point on Tuesday. The GHF said it has asked Israeli forces to “guide foot traffic in a way that minimises confusion or escalation risks”.

International criticism. The UN has refused to cooperate, accusing the GHF of weaponising aid following Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its launch of a renewed operation that has left more than 80 per cent of the Strip under evacuation orders or in military zones.

Officials say the GHF is ill-equipped to feed more than two million people on the brink of starvation. “It is unacceptable. Civilians are risking – and in several instances losing – their lives just trying to get food,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. He said the aid distribution model was “a recipe for disaster, which is exactly what is going on”.

The pushback. The US vetoed a resolution at the Security Council last night that called for a ceasefire along with the “immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza” – including by the United Nations. The US ambassador to the UN called the resolution “unacceptable” and urged the organisation to support GHF instead.

Who’s in charge? Not the GHF’s erstwhile executive director Jake Wood. He quit before the foundation began delivering aid, saying that the initiative could not adhere to basic humanitarian principles. People still involved include

• former USAid contractor John Acree, who became Wood’s interim replacement; and
• an evangelical preacher and self-professed interfaith leader, Reverend Johnnie Moore, who was announced on Tuesday as the new chairman.

Moore has lashed out on social media against the UN and publicly supported Trump’s vision for the future of the enclave.

What’s more… Much remains unknown about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. While the Israeli military and its subsidiary overseeing aid into the Strip have said they are cooperating with the initiative, many operational details and the identities of its backers remain a mystery.

Photograph by Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images