A controversial new American-backed organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has announced it will begin delivering aid to the besieged territory within two weeks and says it has Israel\u2019s approval. <\/p>\n
The move would provide some relief for Gazans facing acute hunger from 19 months of war and a two-and-half month Israeli blockade of all food, water, medical and humanitarian supplies. <\/p>\n
More than half of Gaza\u2019s population faces \u201cemergency\u201d or \u201ccatastrophic\u201d levels of hunger, according to a UN-backed panel considered an authority on the matter. <\/p>\n
But the foundation has come under significant criticism from top humanitarian officials, who warn that it is insufficient, could endanger civilians and even encourage their forced displacement. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about the new aid mechanism. <\/p>\n
Israel started a total blockade on Gaza on March 2, the day after the initial phase of a ceasefire with Hamas expired. <\/p>\n
Officials said their goal was to force the group to accept new ceasefire terms and release hostages taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. <\/p>\n
Israel and the United States have also accused Hamas of stealing aid intended for Gaza\u2019s civilian population. Hamas has rejected those claims, and humanitarian aid organizations say the overwhelming majority of food aid reaches civilians in need. <\/p>\n
Whatever the motivation, the impact is clear. <\/p>\n
The hunger crisis long predates Israel\u2019s total blockade. Since Hamas\u2019 attack, Israel has severely restricted the amount of aid that can enter Gaza. And even before October 2023, Israel and Egypt had imposed a partial blockade on Gaza, meaning that 63% of the population was food insecure. <\/p>\n
Now that figure is 100%, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). It says that 70,000 children need urgent treatment for \u201cacute malnutrition.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a non-profit set up at the urging of the American government to help alleviate hunger in Gaza, while complying with Israeli demands that the aid not reach Hamas. <\/p>\n
The American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, laid out some of the goals for the organization in a press conference in Jerusalem last week. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s being led by Jake Wood, a US military veteran who founded and ran Team Rubicon, which has provided humanitarian relief during natural disasters. <\/p>\n
\u201cAid diversion, active combat, and restricted access have prevented life-saving assistance from reaching the people it is meant to serve and eroded donor confidence,\u201d the foundation said in a memorandum on its objectives. \u201cGHF was established to restore that vital lifeline through an independent, rigorously-audited model that gets assistance directly \u2013 and only \u2013 to those in need.\u201d <\/p>\n
In its initial press releases, the GHF listed some heavy hitters that would sit on its board, lending it significant legitimacy: David Beasley, the former executive director of the WFP, and Nate Mook, the former head of World Central Kitchen. <\/p>\n
The foundation says that it will set up \u201cSecure Distribution Sites\u201d to feed 1.2 million of Gaza\u2019s estimated 2.1 million population \u2013 eventually ramping up, it hopes, to serve every Gazan. <\/p>\n
It says that it will provide \u201cpre-packaged rations, hygiene kits, and medical supplies.\u201d It plans to move the aid through \u201ctightly controlled corridors, monitored in real time to prevent diversion.\u201d <\/p>\n
It will accept both financial donations and \u201cgoods-in-kind,\u201d meaning direct donations of food and other aid. <\/p>\n
The group says that it will coordinate with the Israeli military, but that security will be provided by private military contractors, including an American firm that was on the ground during a ceasefire earlier this year. <\/p>\n
The foundation said in a statement on Wednesday that it has called on Israel to authorize the entry of aid through existing mechanisms as a stop-gap measure until it is up and running. Israel has not yet publicly agreed. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear. <\/p>\n
In its announcement this week, the GHF said that it was \u201cin the final stages of procuring large volumes of food aid to supplement existing pledges from humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza.\u201d It said that that would equate to more than 300 million meals. <\/p>\n
It did not list the suppliers. <\/p>\n
Huckabee told reporters last week that \u201cthere are some people who have already committed to helping fund\u201d but that \u201cthey don\u2019t want to be disclosed as of yet.\u201d <\/p>\n
The UN has long carried the heaviest burden in feeding, education, and treating Palestinians in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Israel has long had a contentious relationship with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, but it was completely ruptured in the aftermath of October 7. <\/p>\n
The Israeli government says that some UNRWA staff members participated in the October 7 attack on Israel; the agency fired most of those accused, but says that Israel never provided it with evidence against them. <\/p>\n
That led Israel\u2019s parliament to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel, making any UN-led humanitarian efforts extremely difficult. <\/p>\n
But more importantly, the UN has said that it refuses to participate in the new American-backed Gaza aid initiative. <\/p>\n
The UN\u2019s humanitarian chief called it a \u201ccynical sideshow\u201d at the UN Security Council this week. <\/p>\n
The UN and other aid groups say that the way the GHF intends to work violates some basic humanitarian principles. <\/p>\n
The fact that the initial sites would only be in southern and central Gaza could, the UN warned, be seen to be encouraging Israel\u2019s publicly stated goal of forcing \u201cthe entire Gazan population\u201d out of northern Gaza, as Defense Minister Israel Katz put it earlier this month. (The foundation says it has asked Israel to help up set up distribution points in the north.) <\/p>\n
The UN says that the Israeli military\u2019s involvement in securing the sites \u2013 even at a remove \u2013 could discourage participation, or lead to recipients facing reprisals. Private military contractors, the UN warns, could use force as a crowd control mechanism. <\/p>\n
And crucially, it says that the initiative is simply insufficient. There are currently 400 distribution points in Gaza; this program would only have a handful, forcing people to \u201cwalk long distances carrying heavy rations.\u201d <\/p>\n
The US and the GHF have both been at pains to say that it is not an Israeli initiative \u2013 despite Israel\u2019s support for it, and role in designating and securing the distribution sites. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey will not be involved in the distribution of the food or even in the bringing of the food into Gaza,\u201d Ambassador Huckabee said, referring to Israel. \u201cTheir role will remain on the perimeter.\u201d <\/p>\n
The UN\u2019s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, was scathing in his assessment to the UN Security Council this week. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt restricts aid to only one part of Gaza, while leaving other dire needs unmet,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip. It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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