GHF director Jake Wood said it became impossible to work with the group due to concerns on impartiality, neutrality and humanitarian principles.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
26 May, 2025
The hunger crisis in Gaza has been exacerbated by Israel's siege, ongoing since early March [Getty/file photo]
The head of a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip announced his abrupt resignation on Sunday, adding fresh uncertainty over the effort's future.
In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood explained that he felt compelled to leave after determining the organisation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to "humanitarian principles."
The foundation, which has been based in Geneva since February, has vowed to distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, amid accusations it is working with Israel.
The GHF has emerged as international pressure mounts on Israel over the conditions in Gaza, where it has pursued a deadly military onslaught in the Palestinian enclave for over 19 months.
A more than two-month total blockade on the territory only began to ease in recent days, as agencies warned of growing starvation risks. Dozens have already died from hunger since the siege.
"Two months ago, I was approached about leading GHF's efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations" Wood said.
"Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering."
Wood stressed that he was "proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza."
But, he said, it had become "clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon".
Gaza's health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians.
Wood called on Israel "to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms" while also urging "all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination."
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
26 May, 2025
The hunger crisis in Gaza has been exacerbated by Israel's siege, ongoing since early March [Getty/file photo]
The head of a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip announced his abrupt resignation on Sunday, adding fresh uncertainty over the effort's future.
In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood explained that he felt compelled to leave after determining the organisation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to "humanitarian principles."
The foundation, which has been based in Geneva since February, has vowed to distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, amid accusations it is working with Israel.
The GHF has emerged as international pressure mounts on Israel over the conditions in Gaza, where it has pursued a deadly military onslaught in the Palestinian enclave for over 19 months.
A more than two-month total blockade on the territory only began to ease in recent days, as agencies warned of growing starvation risks. Dozens have already died from hunger since the siege.
"Two months ago, I was approached about leading GHF's efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations" Wood said.
"Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering."
Wood stressed that he was "proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza."
But, he said, it had become "clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon".
Gaza's health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians.
Wood called on Israel "to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms" while also urging "all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination."
Israel’s new Gaza aid system likened to 'concentration camps’
Insiders in the Israeli military and the Israel-backed NGO set to take control of Gaza aid delivery have expressed doubts about the plan amid a chaotic rollout.
The New Arab Staff
25 May, 2025
Israel began allowing 'teaspoons' of aid into Gaza this week following a suffocating 11-week siege. [Getty]
Israel's drive to overhaul relief efforts in Gaza is running into significant problems, with insiders expressing doubts about its feasibility and worrying about the optics of militarising humanitarian aid, according to The Washington Post.
Internal planning in the murky organisation set to take control of aid delivery in the Strip - the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - has been beset with uncertainty, while divisions have surfaced in the Israeli military amid confusion about its objectives, sources tell the newspaper.
The Netanyahu government had planned to begin imposing the new system this week but has been forced to push back the date amid what has reportedly been a "rushed and chaotic" rollout.
Drawn up by Israeli officials in November and approved by ministers this month, the plan will hand responsibility for the humanitarian effort to the GHF, which will work alongside the Israeli military and American mercenaries.
The hundreds of aid distribution hubs currently operated by relief agencies will be shrunk to just four GHF-run centres. Each of them will be situated in the south of the strip, forcing Palestinians in the north to leave.
Internal documents seen by The Washington Post show that biometric technology will be deployed at the hubs, handing the Israeli military power to choose who is allowed to receive aid.
There are plans to construct guarded "humanitarian transition areas", where tens of thousands of Palestinians will be held. Planners anticipate these zones to be described as "concentration camps" by the public, the documents show.
Five people involved in the planning expressed concern about the militarisation of aid, and the use of mercenary forces and biometrics to police civilians.
The scheme has triggered outcry among some of Israel's closest Western allies and humanitarian organisations, who have refused to cooperate with a plan that they say violates basic humanitarian principles.
The UN has warned that the policy has been designed to facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians, an accusation effectively confirmed by Israeli ministers who have publicly articulated plans to drive the entire population to the south and force them out of Gaza.
Israel has justified the plan by claiming that Hamas is stealing aid to finance its operations. It has never provided evidence for its claims.
Officials have also framed it as a humanitarian initiative to help Palestinian civilians, who are threatened with mass starvation due to Israel's suffocating 11-week blockade. Authorities this week began allowing the entry of some aid in amounts described by the UN secretary-general as a "teaspoon".
The ongoing blockade and aid restrictions in Gaza have pushed the population to the brink of famine.
According to the WHO, dozens of children have died from malnutrition, and hospitals are overwhelmed. The UN warns that 500–600 aid trucks are needed daily. Aid agencies say the crisis is worsening by the day, with over 70,000 children now at risk of acute malnutrition.
The refusal of aid agencies to cooperate with the scheme has reportedly left the organisation without a plan to distribute the necessary amount of aid.
Red flags about the organisation's capacity were raised earlier this month after a leaked memo revealed that it plans to provide food to only 60% of the population initially.
How the GHF will be funded remains unclear. The UAE - one of the key backers named in the planning documents - has refused to participate. Other potential donors such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Germany have signed a statement criticising the plan.
A GHF spokesperson said the organisation had received a $100 million donation but declined to disclose the donor's identity.
The organisation also appears to still be without a director. David Beasley, a former head of the World Food Programme, was reported to be in discussions for the position, but according to The Washington Post is reluctant to get involved due to the many unanswered questions about the operation.
The confusion about how the scheme will function also extends to the top of the Israeli military itself, which has been deeply divided about the government's intent to occupy the whole of Gaza.
Eyal Zamir, the IDF's chief of staff, admitted just two weeks ago in private conversations that he did not understand how the military will work with the mercenary forces on the ground, according to the newspaper.
Some officers have reportedly expressed opposition to the plan and want the current UN-led humanitarian system to remain in place.
"It’s not going to work," said a former chief of Israeli military intelligence with knowledge of the plans.
"Set aside the humanitarian issues, the moral issues, simply the logistics of transferring people to a permanent location - it’s a huge transfer of people who have already been moved once."
Insiders in the Israeli military and the Israel-backed NGO set to take control of Gaza aid delivery have expressed doubts about the plan amid a chaotic rollout.
The New Arab Staff
25 May, 2025
Israel began allowing 'teaspoons' of aid into Gaza this week following a suffocating 11-week siege. [Getty]
Israel's drive to overhaul relief efforts in Gaza is running into significant problems, with insiders expressing doubts about its feasibility and worrying about the optics of militarising humanitarian aid, according to The Washington Post.
Internal planning in the murky organisation set to take control of aid delivery in the Strip - the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - has been beset with uncertainty, while divisions have surfaced in the Israeli military amid confusion about its objectives, sources tell the newspaper.
The Netanyahu government had planned to begin imposing the new system this week but has been forced to push back the date amid what has reportedly been a "rushed and chaotic" rollout.
Drawn up by Israeli officials in November and approved by ministers this month, the plan will hand responsibility for the humanitarian effort to the GHF, which will work alongside the Israeli military and American mercenaries.
The hundreds of aid distribution hubs currently operated by relief agencies will be shrunk to just four GHF-run centres. Each of them will be situated in the south of the strip, forcing Palestinians in the north to leave.
Internal documents seen by The Washington Post show that biometric technology will be deployed at the hubs, handing the Israeli military power to choose who is allowed to receive aid.
There are plans to construct guarded "humanitarian transition areas", where tens of thousands of Palestinians will be held. Planners anticipate these zones to be described as "concentration camps" by the public, the documents show.
Five people involved in the planning expressed concern about the militarisation of aid, and the use of mercenary forces and biometrics to police civilians.
The scheme has triggered outcry among some of Israel's closest Western allies and humanitarian organisations, who have refused to cooperate with a plan that they say violates basic humanitarian principles.
The UN has warned that the policy has been designed to facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians, an accusation effectively confirmed by Israeli ministers who have publicly articulated plans to drive the entire population to the south and force them out of Gaza.
Israel has justified the plan by claiming that Hamas is stealing aid to finance its operations. It has never provided evidence for its claims.
Officials have also framed it as a humanitarian initiative to help Palestinian civilians, who are threatened with mass starvation due to Israel's suffocating 11-week blockade. Authorities this week began allowing the entry of some aid in amounts described by the UN secretary-general as a "teaspoon".
The ongoing blockade and aid restrictions in Gaza have pushed the population to the brink of famine.
According to the WHO, dozens of children have died from malnutrition, and hospitals are overwhelmed. The UN warns that 500–600 aid trucks are needed daily. Aid agencies say the crisis is worsening by the day, with over 70,000 children now at risk of acute malnutrition.
The refusal of aid agencies to cooperate with the scheme has reportedly left the organisation without a plan to distribute the necessary amount of aid.
Red flags about the organisation's capacity were raised earlier this month after a leaked memo revealed that it plans to provide food to only 60% of the population initially.
How the GHF will be funded remains unclear. The UAE - one of the key backers named in the planning documents - has refused to participate. Other potential donors such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Germany have signed a statement criticising the plan.
A GHF spokesperson said the organisation had received a $100 million donation but declined to disclose the donor's identity.
The organisation also appears to still be without a director. David Beasley, a former head of the World Food Programme, was reported to be in discussions for the position, but according to The Washington Post is reluctant to get involved due to the many unanswered questions about the operation.
The confusion about how the scheme will function also extends to the top of the Israeli military itself, which has been deeply divided about the government's intent to occupy the whole of Gaza.
Eyal Zamir, the IDF's chief of staff, admitted just two weeks ago in private conversations that he did not understand how the military will work with the mercenary forces on the ground, according to the newspaper.
Some officers have reportedly expressed opposition to the plan and want the current UN-led humanitarian system to remain in place.
"It’s not going to work," said a former chief of Israeli military intelligence with knowledge of the plans.
"Set aside the humanitarian issues, the moral issues, simply the logistics of transferring people to a permanent location - it’s a huge transfer of people who have already been moved once."
Israel’s aid plan for Gaza is a key part of its strategy to expel Palestinians
Israel's plan to handle the distribution of aid in Gaza via a U.S. private contractor is a key part of its plan to ethnically cleanse its population. Here's how.
By Qassam Maddi
The forcible expulsion of the Palestinian people is now the explicit goal of Israel’s war on Gaza. Late on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would only end the war if “Hamas surrenders, Gaza is demilitarized, and we implement the Trump plan.”
Trump walked back his February plan for the U.S. to “own” Gaza, expel its people, and turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” but Netanyahu seized upon it all the same and took it as a green light to exterminate Gaza. The latest phase in this plan is Israel’s weaponization of humanitarian aid for the purpose of furthering the Gaza final solution.
The plan is simple: starve Gaza’s population, and only create one designated flattened stretch of land where they can come to get food rations — facilitated by the Israeli army and run by a U.S. private contractor. Gaza’s population will be forced to go to these collection points, where they will be corralled inside what would effectively be a concentration camp, located in what used to be the city of Rafah, now a flattened wasteland.
Netanyahu made all this clear in his latest announcement, which came a day after Israel said it would allow “minimal” amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza for “diplomatic reasons” — to avoid war crimes charges and images of famine.
On Monday, the Israeli war cabinet finally approved the entry of the aid, after two months of a complete Israeli blockade on the besieged territory. This forced starvation has led to the spread of hunger and disease, with the Gaza Government Media Office reporting that at least 70,000 Palestinian children have been hospitalized for severe malnutrition.
The cabinet decision followed intense negotiations with Hamas in Qatar, with the mediation of the Gulf state, and pressure from the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The talks started following Hamas’s release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander earlier last week.
The U.S. reportedly pressured Israel into sending a negotiating team, which later led to the decision to allow the entry of food.
Talks continue to be held over the possibility of a ceasefire, with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting that Israel will not commit to ending the war and will retain control of Gaza. Hamas insists on U.S. guarantees and a UN Security Council Resolution that Israel will not restart its assault on Gaza after the release of Israeli captives. However, for the time being, Palestinians in Gaza are expected to receive some relief from starvation, as Israel has already begun to allow a small number of food trucks to enter the Strip.
On Tuesday, the UN said that the nine trucks that Israel allowed to enter the day before represented “a drop in the ocean” of the needs of the devastated population. But the quantity of the aid allowed into Gaza is not the only concern looming around the issue. An additional fear is rising that aid might be used as a tool for Israel to achieve its primary wartime goal — to facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians out of Gaza.
Israel’s goal: Ethnic cleansing
When Israel announced its latest offensive aiming to control all of Gaza, dubbed operation “Gideon’s Chariot,” Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that one of the phases of the the operation would include transferring the majority of the Palestinian population to the south of the Strip, especially in the Rafah area. These reports appeared simultaneously alongside Netanyahu’s statements to Israeli reservists last week that Israel aims to force Palestinians out of Gaza, and that the main obstacle is finding countries willing to accept them. The concentration of Palestinians in southern Gaza is seen by most analysts as a preparatory step for forcing them out. It is believed that this new plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza might be the last piece of this strategy.
This strategic use of food distribution has been discussed by the Israeli war cabinet since last year, months before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached. In September 2024, Netanyahu was already discussing the best mechanism to allow the distribution of aid in the north of Gaza, where the Israeli army was planning an expansion of its ground operations at the time. Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting that the Israeli army will “take responsibility” for distributing aid in the areas where it was also focused on defeating the Palestinian resistance.
The Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon reported at the time that the Israeli Prime Minister was following the suggestions of his hardline far-right cabinet allies, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Orit Strock, who reportedly supported the Israeli army’s control of aid distribution, as part of a larger plan of expanding the ground assault on the northern part of the strip. The newspaper quoted Smotrich referring to the plan as “a strategic change” that would “bring the military effort to its maximum” in order to defeat Hamas.
Two months later, the Israeli army sealed off the entire northern Gaza governorate, causing an immediate drop in the quantity of food available and pushing some 400,000 Palestinians to the edge of starvation as part of what was known as “the Generals’ Plan,” designed to force Palestinians out of northern Gaza. This effort caused the population of northern Gaza to plummet below 100,000, reaching as low as 75,000, according to some reports. Israel was never able to implement that plan’s vision of controlling aid distribution because the blockade of the north alone drove most of the population out of the area, and the ceasefire was eventually reached in mid-January.
New aid plan
Even though the Israeli war cabinet approved the entry of aid trucks on Monday, the actual implementation of the entry of aid has been gradual. On Thursday, the Gaza Government Media Office announced that some trucks arrived in the Strip for distribution three days after they were due.
International organizations, including UN bodies such as UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP), have traditionally been key players in aid distribution in Gaza. But minutes following the cabinet’s decision this week, the Times of Israel reported that Israel would be adopting a new mechanism to distribute aid through the Israeli army, bypassing international organizations.
The most important component of this new mechanism is that aid wouldn’t be distributed to all parts of the Gaza Strip, but to specific distribution points where Palestinians would be required to move to receive it.
This Israeli plan has actually been previously announced as a joint U.S.-Israeli plan, which included the distribution of aid determined by limited rations to households. In Israel’s new plan, rather than working with traditional aid groups, the distribution would be organized by the recently established, U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. On May 4, international organizations present in Gaza unanimously voiced their rejection of the plan in a joint statement, saying that “it contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic as part of a military strategy.”
The statement was followed on May 6 by a statement by UN aid teams, who said the plan “appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponize the aid.”
A month earlier, on April 8, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres rejected Israeli control over aid distribution in Gaza, stating that it risks “further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour.” Guterres added that the UN “will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality.”
Meanwhile, Gaza starves
As Israel continues to be formally engaged in ceasefire talks with Hamas in Qatar, its decision to allow the entry of aid was presented as a step forward in the effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. However, if carried out according to Israel’s plan, the delivery of aid itself could become another step in the ongoing Israeli strategy to fulfill its now explicit goal of expelling the strip of its Palestinian population.
In the meantime, hunger in the strip accentuates by the minute, claiming so far the lives of at least 57 Palestinians, mostly children, since October 2023 according to the Palestinian health ministry, and provoking the miscarriage of 300 pregnant women due to lack of nutrients. Gaza’s government media office also said that an unspecified number of elderly people had died due to the lack of medicines, in the same time period.
All of this continues as Israeli forces escalate airstrikes across the strip, killing 82 Palestinians in the past 24 hours (Tuesday to Wednesday), according to the Palestinian health ministry. Since October 2023, the Israeli assault on Gaza has officially killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, with most estimates of the genocide’s total toll being much higher.
Israel's plan to handle the distribution of aid in Gaza via a U.S. private contractor is a key part of its plan to ethnically cleanse its population. Here's how.
By Qassam Maddi
May 22, 2025 0
MONDOWEISS
MONDOWEISS
Palestinians wait in long queues to receive pots of food distributed by charitable organizations, Gaza City, May 21, 2025. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
The forcible expulsion of the Palestinian people is now the explicit goal of Israel’s war on Gaza. Late on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would only end the war if “Hamas surrenders, Gaza is demilitarized, and we implement the Trump plan.”
Trump walked back his February plan for the U.S. to “own” Gaza, expel its people, and turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” but Netanyahu seized upon it all the same and took it as a green light to exterminate Gaza. The latest phase in this plan is Israel’s weaponization of humanitarian aid for the purpose of furthering the Gaza final solution.
The plan is simple: starve Gaza’s population, and only create one designated flattened stretch of land where they can come to get food rations — facilitated by the Israeli army and run by a U.S. private contractor. Gaza’s population will be forced to go to these collection points, where they will be corralled inside what would effectively be a concentration camp, located in what used to be the city of Rafah, now a flattened wasteland.
Netanyahu made all this clear in his latest announcement, which came a day after Israel said it would allow “minimal” amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza for “diplomatic reasons” — to avoid war crimes charges and images of famine.
On Monday, the Israeli war cabinet finally approved the entry of the aid, after two months of a complete Israeli blockade on the besieged territory. This forced starvation has led to the spread of hunger and disease, with the Gaza Government Media Office reporting that at least 70,000 Palestinian children have been hospitalized for severe malnutrition.
The cabinet decision followed intense negotiations with Hamas in Qatar, with the mediation of the Gulf state, and pressure from the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The talks started following Hamas’s release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander earlier last week.
The U.S. reportedly pressured Israel into sending a negotiating team, which later led to the decision to allow the entry of food.
Talks continue to be held over the possibility of a ceasefire, with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting that Israel will not commit to ending the war and will retain control of Gaza. Hamas insists on U.S. guarantees and a UN Security Council Resolution that Israel will not restart its assault on Gaza after the release of Israeli captives. However, for the time being, Palestinians in Gaza are expected to receive some relief from starvation, as Israel has already begun to allow a small number of food trucks to enter the Strip.
On Tuesday, the UN said that the nine trucks that Israel allowed to enter the day before represented “a drop in the ocean” of the needs of the devastated population. But the quantity of the aid allowed into Gaza is not the only concern looming around the issue. An additional fear is rising that aid might be used as a tool for Israel to achieve its primary wartime goal — to facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians out of Gaza.
Israel’s goal: Ethnic cleansing
When Israel announced its latest offensive aiming to control all of Gaza, dubbed operation “Gideon’s Chariot,” Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that one of the phases of the the operation would include transferring the majority of the Palestinian population to the south of the Strip, especially in the Rafah area. These reports appeared simultaneously alongside Netanyahu’s statements to Israeli reservists last week that Israel aims to force Palestinians out of Gaza, and that the main obstacle is finding countries willing to accept them. The concentration of Palestinians in southern Gaza is seen by most analysts as a preparatory step for forcing them out. It is believed that this new plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza might be the last piece of this strategy.
This strategic use of food distribution has been discussed by the Israeli war cabinet since last year, months before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached. In September 2024, Netanyahu was already discussing the best mechanism to allow the distribution of aid in the north of Gaza, where the Israeli army was planning an expansion of its ground operations at the time. Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting that the Israeli army will “take responsibility” for distributing aid in the areas where it was also focused on defeating the Palestinian resistance.
The Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon reported at the time that the Israeli Prime Minister was following the suggestions of his hardline far-right cabinet allies, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Orit Strock, who reportedly supported the Israeli army’s control of aid distribution, as part of a larger plan of expanding the ground assault on the northern part of the strip. The newspaper quoted Smotrich referring to the plan as “a strategic change” that would “bring the military effort to its maximum” in order to defeat Hamas.
Two months later, the Israeli army sealed off the entire northern Gaza governorate, causing an immediate drop in the quantity of food available and pushing some 400,000 Palestinians to the edge of starvation as part of what was known as “the Generals’ Plan,” designed to force Palestinians out of northern Gaza. This effort caused the population of northern Gaza to plummet below 100,000, reaching as low as 75,000, according to some reports. Israel was never able to implement that plan’s vision of controlling aid distribution because the blockade of the north alone drove most of the population out of the area, and the ceasefire was eventually reached in mid-January.
New aid plan
Even though the Israeli war cabinet approved the entry of aid trucks on Monday, the actual implementation of the entry of aid has been gradual. On Thursday, the Gaza Government Media Office announced that some trucks arrived in the Strip for distribution three days after they were due.
International organizations, including UN bodies such as UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP), have traditionally been key players in aid distribution in Gaza. But minutes following the cabinet’s decision this week, the Times of Israel reported that Israel would be adopting a new mechanism to distribute aid through the Israeli army, bypassing international organizations.
The most important component of this new mechanism is that aid wouldn’t be distributed to all parts of the Gaza Strip, but to specific distribution points where Palestinians would be required to move to receive it.
This Israeli plan has actually been previously announced as a joint U.S.-Israeli plan, which included the distribution of aid determined by limited rations to households. In Israel’s new plan, rather than working with traditional aid groups, the distribution would be organized by the recently established, U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. On May 4, international organizations present in Gaza unanimously voiced their rejection of the plan in a joint statement, saying that “it contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic as part of a military strategy.”
The statement was followed on May 6 by a statement by UN aid teams, who said the plan “appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponize the aid.”
A month earlier, on April 8, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres rejected Israeli control over aid distribution in Gaza, stating that it risks “further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour.” Guterres added that the UN “will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality.”
Meanwhile, Gaza starves
As Israel continues to be formally engaged in ceasefire talks with Hamas in Qatar, its decision to allow the entry of aid was presented as a step forward in the effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. However, if carried out according to Israel’s plan, the delivery of aid itself could become another step in the ongoing Israeli strategy to fulfill its now explicit goal of expelling the strip of its Palestinian population.
In the meantime, hunger in the strip accentuates by the minute, claiming so far the lives of at least 57 Palestinians, mostly children, since October 2023 according to the Palestinian health ministry, and provoking the miscarriage of 300 pregnant women due to lack of nutrients. Gaza’s government media office also said that an unspecified number of elderly people had died due to the lack of medicines, in the same time period.
All of this continues as Israeli forces escalate airstrikes across the strip, killing 82 Palestinians in the past 24 hours (Tuesday to Wednesday), according to the Palestinian health ministry. Since October 2023, the Israeli assault on Gaza has officially killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, with most estimates of the genocide’s total toll being much higher.
'Dangerous and destructive': The US-backed Gaza aid plan undermines humanitarian standards, aligns with Israeli goals of Palestinian displacement and reduces Gazan society to beggars
Humanitarian experts raise serious concerns about Washington’s proposed Gaza aid mechanism & how it entrenches Israel’s objectives of Palestinian displacement
Mohamed Solaimane
20 May, 2025
The New Arab
A controversial development
Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, warns that the plan excludes the private sector from any recovery efforts and falls dramatically short of meeting the scale of Gaza’s needs.
"It offers only a fraction of what’s required in this catastrophe," he said, pointing to the lack of guarantees against arrest, violence, or inhumane treatment at distribution points.
Amjad describes the plan as effectively forcing displacement as it will drive people from the north to the south in search of food, effectively instituting “coerced population movement,” and it focuses only on food and hygiene, completely ignoring water, healthcare, shelter, and other essential services.
He adds that the aid mechanism does not just fail to alleviate the crisis, it risks institutionalising it.
“Rather than lifting the siege or stopping the war, it maintains and deepens the disaster while enhancing Israeli control over the humanitarian space,” Amjad tells The New Arab.
The most alarming aspect for many, however, is the plan’s deliberate exclusion of UNRWA.
"UNRWA has been the backbone of Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure," Amjad continued. "This is a direct attempt to erase not only a vital service provider, but a symbol of the Palestinian refugee issue."
While Amjad welcomed the refusal of the United Nations and various NGOs to participate in the plan, he stressed that its success or failure ultimately hinges on international response.
“If the global community refuses to fund it, if it insists on upholding humanitarian norms, the plan can fail,” he said.
“Open the crossings for aid under the current system. Stop the war. Anything else will only perpetuate this catastrophe and deepen the suffering of Gaza’s people.”
Enabling displacement
Ismat Mansour, an expert on Israeli affairs, told The New Arab that the areas designated for aid “are entirely under Israeli military control,” adding that Palestinians receiving aid will be subjected to security screenings and Israeli-imposed conditions that effectively “weaponise assistance,” turning food into leverage.
“The plan is dangerous and destructive,” he said, alleging that part of its purpose is to provide humanitarian cover for further Israeli military operations, while easing global criticism over Israel’s role in exacerbating famine in Gaza.
“Displacement is a core goal of the Israeli governing coalition and one backed by figures like the United States president,” he said.
“While Trump may have stopped speaking openly about it, the strategy remains. Gathering Palestinians into designated zones under direct Israeli control only increases the likelihood of mass displacement.”
He also argued that because Israel, with American backing, dominates the situation on the ground, alternative voices or opposition to the plan may prove irrelevant.
“No one will say no to aid, regardless of the criticism. And no one has the power to stop this or prevent the displacement, which is the real goal,” he explained.
While far-right elements within the Israeli government, such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, publicly oppose the entry of humanitarian aid, Ismat said they overlook these concerns in favour of the plan’s broader benefits: increased control over Gaza and the strategic removal of its population.
“This is part of a calculated American effort to restructure Gaza through the weaponisation of aid,” political analyst Mohammad Diab said.
“The approach is aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision for the territory.”
Unlike past initiatives, such as the floating aid dock off Gaza, which failed to materialise, Mohammad believes this plan is both serious and operational.
“A foundation has already been established, leadership appointed, and full coordination with Israel achieved. This isn’t just a symbolic gesture. It’s a sustained strategy,” he added.
He also noted that while some modifications to the mechanism might occur following dialogue with Arab states, the plan’s core features, which include strict aid management and the prevention of any assistance reaching Hamas, will remain intact.
“Even if changes are made, the structure won’t be compromised. The American administration is being pragmatic, but as famine intensifies, political considerations will fall away and the plan will become a de facto necessity for both the population and official actors,” he told The New Arab.
“Starvation,” he added, “is a tool. The US wants to reengineer Gaza politically, economically, and socially. Even if a temporary ceasefire is reached, aid will still be funnelled through Israel’s strict conditions under this American framework.”
Unsustainable effort
However, political commentator Khalil Abu Shammala offered a sharply divergent view, predicting that the plan is likely to face significant implementation challenges.
He cited prohibitive costs, logistical complexity, and the probable refusal of international donors to finance an initiative that violates established humanitarian standards.
“This plan will require thousands of workers, massive logistical operations, and billions in funding. It’s not something a hastily formed foundation can manage,” Khalil said, warning that many governments and international organisations are “unwilling to engage with a system that incorporates security vetting and effectively segregates Palestinians into isolated zones under full Israeli control.”
Khalil further questioned the sustainability of the plan given the unpredictability of Israeli military policy.
“Israel can shut down crossings at any moment. That uncertainty makes long-term aid delivery untenable,” he said.
While acknowledging the alignment between the US aid mechanism and Israel’s strategic aims, including the use of food as leverage to facilitate displacement, Khalil expressed grave concern about the broader societal consequences.
“The plan reduces every segment of Gazan society to beggars wholly dependent on aid. It annihilates any hope of restoring Gaza’s civil, economic, and governmental institutions, from education and healthcare to reconstruction and social fabric,” he warned.
One of the clearest goals and likely outcomes of the plan, according to Khalil, is the displacement of Palestinians. He also questioned the sustainability of such an approach, asking how long people can “realistically survive on aid — what kind of future can be built under such conditions?"
He continued, “Is Gaza’s problem about securing food from donors? Of course not. What Gaza needs is an end to the war, an Israeli withdrawal, and the chance for its people to rebuild their lives with their own hands. They’ve done it before, and they can do it again if given the opportunity.”
Khalil contends that the real aim of the proposed aid plan is to concentrate Palestinians in isolated zones, paving the way for eventual mass displacement.
International aid organizations are calling an Israeli-U.S. plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza a "politicized sham" and a "blueprint for ethnic cleansing." Meanwhile, the UN warns 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive aid.
Humanitarian experts raise serious concerns about Washington’s proposed Gaza aid mechanism & how it entrenches Israel’s objectives of Palestinian displacement
Mohamed Solaimane
20 May, 2025
The New Arab
A US-supported system for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza is expected to be implemented shortly, according to Washington’s envoy to Israel. The statement came on Friday, just days before US President Donald Trump visited the region. However, the envoy did not explain how the aid mechanism would function in the absence of a ceasefire or a de-escalation of hostilities.
Analysts and humanitarian experts are raising serious concerns about Washington’s newly proposed aid mechanism for Gaza, warning that it goes far beyond standard humanitarian frameworks and may, in fact, further entrench Israel’s strategic objective of displacing Palestinians.
The plan risks turning Gaza into a society sustained solely by emergency aid, with no means for recovery or sustainable living. They describe the initiative not as a neutral relief effort, but as a political instrument, closely mirroring, if not outright supporting, Israeli policy.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate rapidly. The United Nations has warned that the territory is teetering on the brink of famine.
For months, Israel has maintained a tight blockade, severely limiting the entry of essential supplies. This comes as the Israeli government prepares to escalate its military operations against Hamas following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement in March.
The operational structure, which bypasses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is being seen as part of a broader campaign by both the US and Israel to dismantle the agency, which for decades has been central to humanitarian operations in Gaza.
While some observers believe the plan may be implemented, driven by the looming spectre of famine that leaves Palestinians with few alternatives, others anticipate serious obstacles.
These include a lack of funding, the high operational cost and complexity, and the likelihood of Israeli military interference. Critics also underscore the plan’s deviation from humanitarian norms, citing the absence of key protections and logistical safeguards.
The Trump administration announced in mid-May the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private new entity tasked with delivering humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Through its channels, aid will be delivered through private security firms operating under Israeli military protection, with distribution points established initially in the northern and southern regions of Gaza.
The plan, according to early details, centres on four aid distribution hubs. These hubs will initially provide food, clean water, and hygiene supplies to approximately 1.2 million people, covering just under 60 percent of the enclave’s population, but have the eventual goal of expanding the operation to reach the entire population of Gaza.
The sites themselves will be secured by private contractors and monitored by Israeli forces, with recipients subject to digital security screenings.
Analysts and humanitarian experts are raising serious concerns about Washington’s newly proposed aid mechanism for Gaza, warning that it goes far beyond standard humanitarian frameworks and may, in fact, further entrench Israel’s strategic objective of displacing Palestinians.
The plan risks turning Gaza into a society sustained solely by emergency aid, with no means for recovery or sustainable living. They describe the initiative not as a neutral relief effort, but as a political instrument, closely mirroring, if not outright supporting, Israeli policy.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate rapidly. The United Nations has warned that the territory is teetering on the brink of famine.
For months, Israel has maintained a tight blockade, severely limiting the entry of essential supplies. This comes as the Israeli government prepares to escalate its military operations against Hamas following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement in March.
The operational structure, which bypasses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is being seen as part of a broader campaign by both the US and Israel to dismantle the agency, which for decades has been central to humanitarian operations in Gaza.
While some observers believe the plan may be implemented, driven by the looming spectre of famine that leaves Palestinians with few alternatives, others anticipate serious obstacles.
These include a lack of funding, the high operational cost and complexity, and the likelihood of Israeli military interference. Critics also underscore the plan’s deviation from humanitarian norms, citing the absence of key protections and logistical safeguards.
The Trump administration announced in mid-May the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private new entity tasked with delivering humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Through its channels, aid will be delivered through private security firms operating under Israeli military protection, with distribution points established initially in the northern and southern regions of Gaza.
The plan, according to early details, centres on four aid distribution hubs. These hubs will initially provide food, clean water, and hygiene supplies to approximately 1.2 million people, covering just under 60 percent of the enclave’s population, but have the eventual goal of expanding the operation to reach the entire population of Gaza.
The sites themselves will be secured by private contractors and monitored by Israeli forces, with recipients subject to digital security screenings.
Palestinians, struggling with hunger due to the Israeli embargo, wait in line to receive hot meals distributed by the charity organisations as Israeli attacks continue [Getty]
A controversial development
Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, warns that the plan excludes the private sector from any recovery efforts and falls dramatically short of meeting the scale of Gaza’s needs.
"It offers only a fraction of what’s required in this catastrophe," he said, pointing to the lack of guarantees against arrest, violence, or inhumane treatment at distribution points.
Amjad describes the plan as effectively forcing displacement as it will drive people from the north to the south in search of food, effectively instituting “coerced population movement,” and it focuses only on food and hygiene, completely ignoring water, healthcare, shelter, and other essential services.
He adds that the aid mechanism does not just fail to alleviate the crisis, it risks institutionalising it.
“Rather than lifting the siege or stopping the war, it maintains and deepens the disaster while enhancing Israeli control over the humanitarian space,” Amjad tells The New Arab.
The most alarming aspect for many, however, is the plan’s deliberate exclusion of UNRWA.
"UNRWA has been the backbone of Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure," Amjad continued. "This is a direct attempt to erase not only a vital service provider, but a symbol of the Palestinian refugee issue."
While Amjad welcomed the refusal of the United Nations and various NGOs to participate in the plan, he stressed that its success or failure ultimately hinges on international response.
“If the global community refuses to fund it, if it insists on upholding humanitarian norms, the plan can fail,” he said.
“Open the crossings for aid under the current system. Stop the war. Anything else will only perpetuate this catastrophe and deepen the suffering of Gaza’s people.”
Enabling displacement
Ismat Mansour, an expert on Israeli affairs, told The New Arab that the areas designated for aid “are entirely under Israeli military control,” adding that Palestinians receiving aid will be subjected to security screenings and Israeli-imposed conditions that effectively “weaponise assistance,” turning food into leverage.
“The plan is dangerous and destructive,” he said, alleging that part of its purpose is to provide humanitarian cover for further Israeli military operations, while easing global criticism over Israel’s role in exacerbating famine in Gaza.
“Displacement is a core goal of the Israeli governing coalition and one backed by figures like the United States president,” he said.
“While Trump may have stopped speaking openly about it, the strategy remains. Gathering Palestinians into designated zones under direct Israeli control only increases the likelihood of mass displacement.”
He also argued that because Israel, with American backing, dominates the situation on the ground, alternative voices or opposition to the plan may prove irrelevant.
“No one will say no to aid, regardless of the criticism. And no one has the power to stop this or prevent the displacement, which is the real goal,” he explained.
While far-right elements within the Israeli government, such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, publicly oppose the entry of humanitarian aid, Ismat said they overlook these concerns in favour of the plan’s broader benefits: increased control over Gaza and the strategic removal of its population.
“This is part of a calculated American effort to restructure Gaza through the weaponisation of aid,” political analyst Mohammad Diab said.
“The approach is aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision for the territory.”
Unlike past initiatives, such as the floating aid dock off Gaza, which failed to materialise, Mohammad believes this plan is both serious and operational.
“A foundation has already been established, leadership appointed, and full coordination with Israel achieved. This isn’t just a symbolic gesture. It’s a sustained strategy,” he added.
He also noted that while some modifications to the mechanism might occur following dialogue with Arab states, the plan’s core features, which include strict aid management and the prevention of any assistance reaching Hamas, will remain intact.
“Even if changes are made, the structure won’t be compromised. The American administration is being pragmatic, but as famine intensifies, political considerations will fall away and the plan will become a de facto necessity for both the population and official actors,” he told The New Arab.
“Starvation,” he added, “is a tool. The US wants to reengineer Gaza politically, economically, and socially. Even if a temporary ceasefire is reached, aid will still be funnelled through Israel’s strict conditions under this American framework.”
For months, Israel has maintained a tight blockade, severely limiting the entry of essential supplies [Getty]
Unsustainable effort
However, political commentator Khalil Abu Shammala offered a sharply divergent view, predicting that the plan is likely to face significant implementation challenges.
He cited prohibitive costs, logistical complexity, and the probable refusal of international donors to finance an initiative that violates established humanitarian standards.
“This plan will require thousands of workers, massive logistical operations, and billions in funding. It’s not something a hastily formed foundation can manage,” Khalil said, warning that many governments and international organisations are “unwilling to engage with a system that incorporates security vetting and effectively segregates Palestinians into isolated zones under full Israeli control.”
Khalil further questioned the sustainability of the plan given the unpredictability of Israeli military policy.
“Israel can shut down crossings at any moment. That uncertainty makes long-term aid delivery untenable,” he said.
While acknowledging the alignment between the US aid mechanism and Israel’s strategic aims, including the use of food as leverage to facilitate displacement, Khalil expressed grave concern about the broader societal consequences.
“The plan reduces every segment of Gazan society to beggars wholly dependent on aid. It annihilates any hope of restoring Gaza’s civil, economic, and governmental institutions, from education and healthcare to reconstruction and social fabric,” he warned.
One of the clearest goals and likely outcomes of the plan, according to Khalil, is the displacement of Palestinians. He also questioned the sustainability of such an approach, asking how long people can “realistically survive on aid — what kind of future can be built under such conditions?"
He continued, “Is Gaza’s problem about securing food from donors? Of course not. What Gaza needs is an end to the war, an Israeli withdrawal, and the chance for its people to rebuild their lives with their own hands. They’ve done it before, and they can do it again if given the opportunity.”
Khalil contends that the real aim of the proposed aid plan is to concentrate Palestinians in isolated zones, paving the way for eventual mass displacement.
An aerial view shows the mass displacement of Palestinians who are now living in tents in the al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis following intense Israeli attacks [Getty]
While the plan has been widely rejected by UN agencies, Palestinian factions, and official institutions, he expressed little optimism about their ability to block its implementation.
“None of these entities can stop it,” he said. “The mechanism already in place, relying on UN institutions and their local partners, is being sidelined.”
What could ultimately drive public acceptance of the plan, he feared, is not political endorsement but sheer desperation.
“Hunger is a brutal force,” he said. “It will push people to accept whatever is offered, however flawed. No organisation, no government, no faction can stand in the way of basic survival.
"That’s precisely the point of Israel’s deliberate policy of starvation, to reach a stage where the population is too desperate to resist.”
Mohamed Solaimane is a Gaza-based journalist with bylines in regional and international outlets, focusing on humanitarian and environmental issues
This piece is published in collaboration with Egab
While the plan has been widely rejected by UN agencies, Palestinian factions, and official institutions, he expressed little optimism about their ability to block its implementation.
“None of these entities can stop it,” he said. “The mechanism already in place, relying on UN institutions and their local partners, is being sidelined.”
What could ultimately drive public acceptance of the plan, he feared, is not political endorsement but sheer desperation.
“Hunger is a brutal force,” he said. “It will push people to accept whatever is offered, however flawed. No organisation, no government, no faction can stand in the way of basic survival.
"That’s precisely the point of Israel’s deliberate policy of starvation, to reach a stage where the population is too desperate to resist.”
Mohamed Solaimane is a Gaza-based journalist with bylines in regional and international outlets, focusing on humanitarian and environmental issues
This piece is published in collaboration with Egab
‘Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing’: NGOs condemn Gaza aid plan
International aid organizations are calling an Israeli-U.S. plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza a "politicized sham" and a "blueprint for ethnic cleansing." Meanwhile, the UN warns 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive aid.
May 20, 2025 2
MONDOWEISS
MONDOWEISS
Palestinians clamor in line to receive a portion of food from a charity kitchen in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, April 27, 2025. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
A group of British human rights organizations is sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Under the plan, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-based organization, would handle the aid, and private military contractors would secure the distribution sites. The Israeli military would provide “necessary security.”
An open letter from 11 NGOs, including Action For Humanity and Christian Aid, refers to the plan as a “politicized sham” and a “blueprint for ethnic cleansing.”
“Despite branding itself as ‘independent’ and ‘transparent,’ the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be wholly dependent on Israeli coordination and operates via Israeli-controlled entry points, primarily the Port of Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing,” the letter explains. “This entrenches and legitimises the very structures of control that are responsible for cutting Gaza off from food, fuel, and medicine.”
“Limiting aid distribution to restricted collection points would effectively exclude persons with disabilities and those who are injured and unable to move easily through the destruction and rubble, violating the principle of impartial needs-based humanitarian assistance,” it continues. “Let us be clear: the biggest barrier to humanitarian access in Gaza is not inefficiency or corruption, it is the deliberate restriction of aid by the Israeli government. The military siege on Gaza is a form of collective punishment. The restriction of aid is being used as a weapon of war.”
“Let us be clear: the biggest barrier to humanitarian access in Gaza is not inefficiency or corruption, it is the deliberate restriction of aid by the Israeli government. The military siege on Gaza is a form of collective punishment. The restriction of aid is being used as a weapon of war.”Letter from NGOs on the U.S.-Israel Gaza aid plan
The plan has also been condemned by the UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which says the system “contradicts Israel’s obligations under International Humanitarian Law to allow and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need.”
“UN involvement would legitimize a military tactic that would have devastating consequences on the population and would damage the organization’s reputation in Gaza and the region,” reads a recent document from the group.
In recent remarks, U.S ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee admitted that the plan will only feed 60% of Gaza initially and blamed the deadly Israeli blockade on Hamas.
“You have to start somewhere and the somewhere feeds an enormous level of the people of Gaza,” said Huckabee.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is headed by Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran who started the disaster relief nonprofit Team Rubicon in response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
“This plan is not perfect, but this plan will be feeding people by the end of the month, in a scenario where no one has allowed aid in over the course of the last 10 weeks,” said Wood in his first interview since starting the foundation.
“Ultimately, the community is going to face a choice. This is going to be the mechanism by which aid can be distributed in Gaza,” he continued. “Are you willing to participate? The answer is going to be, you know, pretty critical to whether or not this ramps up to sufficiently feed 2.2 million people in a very desperate situation.”
Wood has insisted that the plan would not lead to the further displacement of Palestinians, but the UN points out that it excludes northern Gaza, which could force people to relocate from the north.
Israeli leaders have also publicly admitted that the aid plan will enable them to continue their genocidal policies in the region.
In a video posted on social media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the hunger crisis and said that images of famine would impair Israel’s ability to achieve its war aims.
“Our best friends in the world, senators that I know as enthusiastic Israel supporters, who I know for many years, are come to me and telling me, ‘we give you all the support for a final victory — arms, support on your maneuvers to destroy Hamas, support at the U.N. Security Council,” said Netanyahu. “There is one thing we cannot endure — pictures of mass famine. This is something we are unable to witness. We will not be able to support you.'”
In the same video, Netanyahu said that Israel would “take control of all the Gaza Strip” while delivering “minimal humanitarian aid: food and medicine only.”
These sentiments were echoed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who held a press conference to assure his base that the aid plan was a means of continuing the genocide.
“The [aid] that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount,” he explained. A handful of bakeries that will hand out pita bread to people in public kitchens. People in Gaza will get a pita and a food plate, and that’s it. Exactly what we are seeing in the videos: people standing in line and waiting to have someone serve them, with some soup plate.”
“We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally,” he continued. And the world isn’t stopping us. There are pressures. There are those who attack [us]; they are trying to [make us] stop; they are not succeeding.”
NBC recently reported that the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. Sources say the U.S. government would release billions in funds to Libya that were previously frozen in exchange for the country participating in the ethnic cleansing.
Hamas says they are unaware of any such plans.
“Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families, and the future of their children,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told NBC. “[Palestinians] are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do.”
This week, Israel cleared nine aid trucks to enter Gaza, marking the first delivery in three months. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher called it a “drop in the ocean,” as 500 trucks had been allowed in daily before the war.
The organization has warned that 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive immediate, substantial aid.
“This is not food that Hamas is going to steal,” Fletcher told the BBC. “We run the risk of looting, of being hit by the Israeli offensive. We will be impeded, we will run huge risks, but I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in, to those moms, who at the moment cannot feed their own kids.”
A group of British human rights organizations is sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Under the plan, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-based organization, would handle the aid, and private military contractors would secure the distribution sites. The Israeli military would provide “necessary security.”
An open letter from 11 NGOs, including Action For Humanity and Christian Aid, refers to the plan as a “politicized sham” and a “blueprint for ethnic cleansing.”
“Despite branding itself as ‘independent’ and ‘transparent,’ the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be wholly dependent on Israeli coordination and operates via Israeli-controlled entry points, primarily the Port of Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing,” the letter explains. “This entrenches and legitimises the very structures of control that are responsible for cutting Gaza off from food, fuel, and medicine.”
“Limiting aid distribution to restricted collection points would effectively exclude persons with disabilities and those who are injured and unable to move easily through the destruction and rubble, violating the principle of impartial needs-based humanitarian assistance,” it continues. “Let us be clear: the biggest barrier to humanitarian access in Gaza is not inefficiency or corruption, it is the deliberate restriction of aid by the Israeli government. The military siege on Gaza is a form of collective punishment. The restriction of aid is being used as a weapon of war.”
“Let us be clear: the biggest barrier to humanitarian access in Gaza is not inefficiency or corruption, it is the deliberate restriction of aid by the Israeli government. The military siege on Gaza is a form of collective punishment. The restriction of aid is being used as a weapon of war.”Letter from NGOs on the U.S.-Israel Gaza aid plan
The plan has also been condemned by the UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which says the system “contradicts Israel’s obligations under International Humanitarian Law to allow and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need.”
“UN involvement would legitimize a military tactic that would have devastating consequences on the population and would damage the organization’s reputation in Gaza and the region,” reads a recent document from the group.
In recent remarks, U.S ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee admitted that the plan will only feed 60% of Gaza initially and blamed the deadly Israeli blockade on Hamas.
“You have to start somewhere and the somewhere feeds an enormous level of the people of Gaza,” said Huckabee.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is headed by Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran who started the disaster relief nonprofit Team Rubicon in response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
“This plan is not perfect, but this plan will be feeding people by the end of the month, in a scenario where no one has allowed aid in over the course of the last 10 weeks,” said Wood in his first interview since starting the foundation.
“Ultimately, the community is going to face a choice. This is going to be the mechanism by which aid can be distributed in Gaza,” he continued. “Are you willing to participate? The answer is going to be, you know, pretty critical to whether or not this ramps up to sufficiently feed 2.2 million people in a very desperate situation.”
Wood has insisted that the plan would not lead to the further displacement of Palestinians, but the UN points out that it excludes northern Gaza, which could force people to relocate from the north.
Israeli leaders have also publicly admitted that the aid plan will enable them to continue their genocidal policies in the region.
In a video posted on social media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the hunger crisis and said that images of famine would impair Israel’s ability to achieve its war aims.
“Our best friends in the world, senators that I know as enthusiastic Israel supporters, who I know for many years, are come to me and telling me, ‘we give you all the support for a final victory — arms, support on your maneuvers to destroy Hamas, support at the U.N. Security Council,” said Netanyahu. “There is one thing we cannot endure — pictures of mass famine. This is something we are unable to witness. We will not be able to support you.'”
In the same video, Netanyahu said that Israel would “take control of all the Gaza Strip” while delivering “minimal humanitarian aid: food and medicine only.”
These sentiments were echoed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who held a press conference to assure his base that the aid plan was a means of continuing the genocide.
“The [aid] that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount,” he explained. A handful of bakeries that will hand out pita bread to people in public kitchens. People in Gaza will get a pita and a food plate, and that’s it. Exactly what we are seeing in the videos: people standing in line and waiting to have someone serve them, with some soup plate.”
“We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally,” he continued. And the world isn’t stopping us. There are pressures. There are those who attack [us]; they are trying to [make us] stop; they are not succeeding.”
NBC recently reported that the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. Sources say the U.S. government would release billions in funds to Libya that were previously frozen in exchange for the country participating in the ethnic cleansing.
Hamas says they are unaware of any such plans.
“Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families, and the future of their children,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told NBC. “[Palestinians] are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do.”
This week, Israel cleared nine aid trucks to enter Gaza, marking the first delivery in three months. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher called it a “drop in the ocean,” as 500 trucks had been allowed in daily before the war.
The organization has warned that 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive immediate, substantial aid.
“This is not food that Hamas is going to steal,” Fletcher told the BBC. “We run the risk of looting, of being hit by the Israeli offensive. We will be impeded, we will run huge risks, but I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in, to those moms, who at the moment cannot feed their own kids.”
Analysis
Weaponising hunger: The dystopian US-Israel aid plan for Gaza
The new aid plan bypasses the UN and uses private charities and security firms to deliver aid in Gaza, with fears it is a fig leaf to advance mass displacement
Alessandra Bajec
15 May, 2025
The US is establishing a new system relying on private firms to coordinate humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s total blockade continues for a third month and famine looms across the territory.
The aid mechanism, which will be managed by a newly created private charity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), is aimed at delivering food and basic necessities as part of a broader US-Israeli effort to take control of aid distribution.
Satellite images reportedly show that a series of sites are being prepared by Israel as distribution centres, according to media reports.
Under the new plan, announced by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last Friday, the foundation will set up four distribution sites to provide food, water, hygiene kits, and medical supplies to 1.2 million people initially, which is around 60% of Gaza’s population.
Private American security contractors will be used to secure the delivery hubs, and Gazans would be forced to move south to receive aid in an area cordoned off by Israel's military.
Details of who would fund and run the programme, as well as how it would work on the ground, are not given, nor does the proposal provide a timeframe. Essential aid supplies are depleting quickly in Gaza under the unrelenting Israeli siege.
“The entire plan is a non-starter,” Ahmed Bayram, Middle East and North Africa regional media advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told The New Arab. “It sets a dangerous precedent, giving an occupier the power to engineer the aid system on its own terms and raising serious questions about the future of how we deliver aid.”
Humanitarian groups have squarely opposed the new aid system, which would replace the current one run by the United Nations and other international aid agencies. The UN slammed the scheme for sidestepping the existing distribution network, and for drastically reducing humanitarian access points from the 400 that operated across Gaza before Israel’s total blockade to just four.
“Israeli authorities already control the entry of aid into Gaza. Adding another layer of control only worsens delays, reduces vital supplies, and deepens the suffering of a population already trapped under siege,” Khalid Elsheikh, executive director of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) UAE, told TNA. He reiterated that a relief system must ensure free and equitable access to humanitarian supplies throughout the territory.
Aid experts warn this would strain the humanitarian system, making it nearly impossible to ensure equitable access to essential supplies for hundreds of thousands of people. They further noted that Palestinians have regularly come under attack from Israeli forces while collecting aid.
“A population being starved, forcibly displaced and bombed all at once and being told to line up for food in fenced-off zones run by private military contractors?” Bushra Khalidi, Palestinian Territory policy lead at Oxfam, questioned during a presser on Wednesday.
With a handful of aid sites under the Trump administration's proposed plan, displaced Palestinians could be forced to walk long distances carrying heavy food rations for their families.
Weaponising hunger: The dystopian US-Israel aid plan for Gaza
The new aid plan bypasses the UN and uses private charities and security firms to deliver aid in Gaza, with fears it is a fig leaf to advance mass displacement
Alessandra Bajec
15 May, 2025
The New Arab
The US is establishing a new system relying on private firms to coordinate humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s total blockade continues for a third month and famine looms across the territory.
The aid mechanism, which will be managed by a newly created private charity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), is aimed at delivering food and basic necessities as part of a broader US-Israeli effort to take control of aid distribution.
Satellite images reportedly show that a series of sites are being prepared by Israel as distribution centres, according to media reports.
RelatedGaza siegeAlessandra Bajec
Under the new plan, announced by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last Friday, the foundation will set up four distribution sites to provide food, water, hygiene kits, and medical supplies to 1.2 million people initially, which is around 60% of Gaza’s population.
Private American security contractors will be used to secure the delivery hubs, and Gazans would be forced to move south to receive aid in an area cordoned off by Israel's military.
Details of who would fund and run the programme, as well as how it would work on the ground, are not given, nor does the proposal provide a timeframe. Essential aid supplies are depleting quickly in Gaza under the unrelenting Israeli siege.
“The entire plan is a non-starter,” Ahmed Bayram, Middle East and North Africa regional media advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told The New Arab. “It sets a dangerous precedent, giving an occupier the power to engineer the aid system on its own terms and raising serious questions about the future of how we deliver aid.”
Humanitarian groups have squarely opposed the new aid system, which would replace the current one run by the United Nations and other international aid agencies. The UN slammed the scheme for sidestepping the existing distribution network, and for drastically reducing humanitarian access points from the 400 that operated across Gaza before Israel’s total blockade to just four.
“Israeli authorities already control the entry of aid into Gaza. Adding another layer of control only worsens delays, reduces vital supplies, and deepens the suffering of a population already trapped under siege,” Khalid Elsheikh, executive director of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) UAE, told TNA. He reiterated that a relief system must ensure free and equitable access to humanitarian supplies throughout the territory.
Aid experts warn this would strain the humanitarian system, making it nearly impossible to ensure equitable access to essential supplies for hundreds of thousands of people. They further noted that Palestinians have regularly come under attack from Israeli forces while collecting aid.
“A population being starved, forcibly displaced and bombed all at once and being told to line up for food in fenced-off zones run by private military contractors?” Bushra Khalidi, Palestinian Territory policy lead at Oxfam, questioned during a presser on Wednesday.
With a handful of aid sites under the Trump administration's proposed plan, displaced Palestinians could be forced to walk long distances carrying heavy food rations for their families.
Since early March, the Israeli blockade has cut off all relief to the Gaza Strip, pushing its inhabitants toward starvation amid basic supplies rapidly running out. [Getty]
“Using humanitarian aid as a tool to incentivise people to move from one place to another is completely unacceptable,” Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s chief of communications for Palestine, said in an interview with The New Arab, stressing that aid workers distribute relief to people in need “wherever they are”.
He emphasised that at least 1.9 million Palestinians so far have been displaced across the coastal strip as a result of Israeli bombardments, fighting, and conditions tied to security and food distribution.
“This mechanism appears practically unfeasible, incompatible with humanitarian principles and will create serious insecurity risks, all while failing to meet Israel’s obligations under international law,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs wrote last week in a document obtained by CNN.
UN agencies have urged Israel to end its over 10-week siege on Gaza and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, calls that Tel Aviv has so far rejected.
Critics say the US initiative would also advance Israel's plans to coerce besieged Palestinians to move from north to south Gaza near the Egyptian border, and eventually out of the Strip, viewing it as complicity in forced displacement. The UN reports that 90% of the population has been displaced during the war, often multiple times.
The controversial proposal effectively calls for transferring control of Gaza’s aid distribution to a supply scheme largely based on plans discussed by Israel in recent weeks that would bypass international aid agencies and weaken the framework of international humanitarian law.
“How is it possible to provide the needed quantities for 2.1 million people?” Crickx asked. The humanitarian observed that the Israeli aid blueprint allows for only 60 trucks per day to enter Gaza, far fewer than the 650 trucks entering daily during the ceasefire, which he said was already “barely sufficient” to meet basic needs.
Since early March, the Israeli blockade has cut off all relief to the Gaza Strip, pushing its inhabitants toward starvation amid basic supplies rapidly running out, collapsing supply chains, a near-total power blackout, severe water shortages, and a devastated healthcare system. The Palestinian Authority formally declared Gaza a famine zone last week.
Returning from his last field trip to Gaza a couple of days ago, UNICEF’s State of Palestine communications lead described the situation as “absolutely catastrophic” and was adamant that the enclave’s 1.1 million children risk dying from malnutrition if the full siege persists.
“The Israeli occupation forces are targeting every aspect of the health system across Gaza and any survival capacity for our people’s bodies,” Dr Mohammed Salha, Director of Al Awda hospital in North Gaza, said in a statement shared with NGOs.
The main relief organisations working in the Palestinian territory have refused to cooperate with the Israeli plan, enforcing a military-controlled delivery system which, they said, would weaponise aid and could worsen civilian suffering.
Although Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting and profiting from relief deliveries to Gaza, aid groups maintain that the vast majority of food aid reaches civilians in need and, instead, consider Israel’s complete ban on humanitarian assistance the primary cause of the hunger crisis in the enclave.
Aid officials explicitly said they could not participate in the US-Israeli scheme, fearing it violates “fundamental humanitarian principles” and breaches international law.
"It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council. "It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip."
“The UN cannot join any effort that does not meet our principles for the distribution of humanitarian aid, including humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Russia, China, and the UK have also rejected the US-Israeli plan for aid in Gaza, pressing Israel to lift its blockade of the territory.
This is not the first attempt by the two countries to circumvent the UN’s aid system in Gaza. In February 2024, after blocking relief to Gaza City and the north for more than a month, Israel delivered flour via private contractors. When crowds gathered to receive aid, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire, sparking a deadly stampede.
At least 110 people were killed and hundreds injured in what became known as the “flour massacre”. The following month, former US president Joe Biden announced a $230 million floating pier to bring aid into the Strip. It operated for only 20 days, delivering just one day’s worth of pre-war food supplies.
“Using humanitarian aid as a tool to incentivise people to move from one place to another is completely unacceptable,” Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s chief of communications for Palestine, said in an interview with The New Arab, stressing that aid workers distribute relief to people in need “wherever they are”.
He emphasised that at least 1.9 million Palestinians so far have been displaced across the coastal strip as a result of Israeli bombardments, fighting, and conditions tied to security and food distribution.
“This mechanism appears practically unfeasible, incompatible with humanitarian principles and will create serious insecurity risks, all while failing to meet Israel’s obligations under international law,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs wrote last week in a document obtained by CNN.
UN agencies have urged Israel to end its over 10-week siege on Gaza and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, calls that Tel Aviv has so far rejected.
Critics say the US initiative would also advance Israel's plans to coerce besieged Palestinians to move from north to south Gaza near the Egyptian border, and eventually out of the Strip, viewing it as complicity in forced displacement. The UN reports that 90% of the population has been displaced during the war, often multiple times.
The controversial proposal effectively calls for transferring control of Gaza’s aid distribution to a supply scheme largely based on plans discussed by Israel in recent weeks that would bypass international aid agencies and weaken the framework of international humanitarian law.
“How is it possible to provide the needed quantities for 2.1 million people?” Crickx asked. The humanitarian observed that the Israeli aid blueprint allows for only 60 trucks per day to enter Gaza, far fewer than the 650 trucks entering daily during the ceasefire, which he said was already “barely sufficient” to meet basic needs.
Since early March, the Israeli blockade has cut off all relief to the Gaza Strip, pushing its inhabitants toward starvation amid basic supplies rapidly running out, collapsing supply chains, a near-total power blackout, severe water shortages, and a devastated healthcare system. The Palestinian Authority formally declared Gaza a famine zone last week.
Returning from his last field trip to Gaza a couple of days ago, UNICEF’s State of Palestine communications lead described the situation as “absolutely catastrophic” and was adamant that the enclave’s 1.1 million children risk dying from malnutrition if the full siege persists.
“The Israeli occupation forces are targeting every aspect of the health system across Gaza and any survival capacity for our people’s bodies,” Dr Mohammed Salha, Director of Al Awda hospital in North Gaza, said in a statement shared with NGOs.
The main relief organisations working in the Palestinian territory have refused to cooperate with the Israeli plan, enforcing a military-controlled delivery system which, they said, would weaponise aid and could worsen civilian suffering.
Although Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting and profiting from relief deliveries to Gaza, aid groups maintain that the vast majority of food aid reaches civilians in need and, instead, consider Israel’s complete ban on humanitarian assistance the primary cause of the hunger crisis in the enclave.
Aid officials explicitly said they could not participate in the US-Israeli scheme, fearing it violates “fundamental humanitarian principles” and breaches international law.
"It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council. "It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip."
“The UN cannot join any effort that does not meet our principles for the distribution of humanitarian aid, including humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Russia, China, and the UK have also rejected the US-Israeli plan for aid in Gaza, pressing Israel to lift its blockade of the territory.
This is not the first attempt by the two countries to circumvent the UN’s aid system in Gaza. In February 2024, after blocking relief to Gaza City and the north for more than a month, Israel delivered flour via private contractors. When crowds gathered to receive aid, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire, sparking a deadly stampede.
At least 110 people were killed and hundreds injured in what became known as the “flour massacre”. The following month, former US president Joe Biden announced a $230 million floating pier to bring aid into the Strip. It operated for only 20 days, delivering just one day’s worth of pre-war food supplies.
Critics say the aid plan would advance Israel's objective of coercing Palestinians to move from north to south Gaza near the Egyptian border, eventually displacing them from the coastal enclave. [Getty]
Bayram talked about the risks associated with the infamous relief initiative, pointing out that it empowers a conflicting party “to decide who gets aid” based on political or even military considerations. It also facilitates forcible population transfers, he continued, by pushing civilians to travel to distant points set by an occupying power in order to receive humanitarian assistance.
“Aid has always been politicised in Gaza. Now, it’s been militarised and turned into a tool of control,” the NRC’s communications advisor said, warning how damaging it would be for the humanitarian community to take any part in such a problematic delivery mechanism.
MSF UAE’s director was adamant that any aid system must be independent, neutral, and transparent to ensure critical relief to beneficiaries, as required under international law.
“Any attempt to direct, delay, or distribute aid in a discriminatory manner is against the values of humanitarian assistance,” Elsheikh asserted.
Alessandra Bajec is a freelance journalist currently based in Tunis
Follow her on Twitter: @AlessandraBajec
Bayram talked about the risks associated with the infamous relief initiative, pointing out that it empowers a conflicting party “to decide who gets aid” based on political or even military considerations. It also facilitates forcible population transfers, he continued, by pushing civilians to travel to distant points set by an occupying power in order to receive humanitarian assistance.
“Aid has always been politicised in Gaza. Now, it’s been militarised and turned into a tool of control,” the NRC’s communications advisor said, warning how damaging it would be for the humanitarian community to take any part in such a problematic delivery mechanism.
MSF UAE’s director was adamant that any aid system must be independent, neutral, and transparent to ensure critical relief to beneficiaries, as required under international law.
“Any attempt to direct, delay, or distribute aid in a discriminatory manner is against the values of humanitarian assistance,” Elsheikh asserted.
Alessandra Bajec is a freelance journalist currently based in Tunis
Follow her on Twitter: @AlessandraBajec
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