The fog of war prevents a clear understanding of what exactly happened Sunday. But the incident is one of many violent episodes near aid sites across the Gaza Strip, as an Israeli-backed initiative seeks to prevent Hamas from commandeering food and other supplies. Aid organizations have faced numerous obstacles in trying to fight the hunger crisis in Gaza, but one thing has become clear: Getting aid into the Strip is not the problem; distributing it is.
The GHF—a new group with reported Israeli and U.S. support—began operating in Gaza in May, opening a number of aid hubs run in coordination with local contractors and secured with the help of the IDF. Prior to its entry on the scene, Israel says, Hamas exercised significant control over the distribution of aid brought into Gaza by the United Nations and other international organizations. “In the prior system, the U.N. had a near-perfect record of diversion,” Fay said. “Meaning, almost 100 percent of their aid trucks were diverted by Hamas and looters and other gangs.”
Israel argues this arrangement allowed the terror group to do three things with the influx of supplies: upsell it to vendors to generate revenue, dole it out directly to the Gazan people, and hoard it for Hamas fighters and their families. Over the last 21 months, Hamas has used its access to international aid to survive as both a military and governing entity—but it’s a problem that predates the current war. The U.N., through its financial and material support via the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), “has undergirded Hamas at every step of the way since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip” in a 2007 civil war against the Palestinian Authority, Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, told TMD.
Enter the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The new aid organization has now distributed 87 million meals to civilians in need. But its efforts to cut out Hamas have already faced significant challenges. Last month, Hamas gunmen attacked a bus transporting the organization’s Palestinian workers to a distribution site, killing 12 people. According to the GHF, the terrorist group has offered cash rewards for the killing of both American security contractors and Palestinian aid workers participating in aid delivery. “Hamas has put bounties on these people,” said Fay, who recently visited the aid centers.
Hamas’ efforts to target the foundation and its workers have compounded the other challenges of distributing aid in a densely populated war zone. Last week, scores of Palestinians were killed in a stampede near a food distribution center in the Khan Younis area. “We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas – deliberately fomented the unrest,” the GHF said in a statement, adding that multiple weapons were identified among the crowd of aid seekers.
There have also been repeated reports of Israeli soldiers firing at or near Palestinians approaching distribution sites. While the IDF frequently acknowledges shooting at individuals who it says pose a threat to its forces, it largely disputes the steep death tolls provided by the Hamas-run government. The uptick in deadly encounters appears to be at least partially driven by the GHF’s distribution system, which relies on the Israeli military to provide security on the perimeter of aid sites.
These incidents have contributed to backlash against the GHF, which the U.N. and other international organizations have dismissed as illegitimate. The group’s origins are murky, but the State Department confirmed earlier this month that it had awarded $30 million to the foundation’s operations. The windfall came from an expedited process that allows the department to bypass certain protections against fraud and terrorism in emergency situations such as the crisis in Gaza.
Last month, 15 human rights groups penned a statement criticizing the privatization of humanitarian aid delivery as a violation of “the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” Meanwhile, the commissioner-general of UNRWA described the GHF as an “abomination,” arguing it “provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of [Gaza].” And the GHF first executive director, Jake Wood, resigned weeks before the initiative’s launch over concerns that it failed to meet “the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
Speaking to TMD on the condition of anonymity, a humanitarian official from an NGO operating in Gaza argued these concerns have hurt the foundation’s ability to effectively care for the enclave’s civilian population. “They [GHF] are not providing clean water, medical assistance, or shelter materials that people need when they’re being displaced repeatedly,” the official said, alleging that Israel has hindered the entry of aid into Gaza. “We didn’t need a new mechanism. Our problem is not a logistical problem; it’s a political problem.”
The foundation maintains that its sole goal is to get vital supplies directly into the hands of the Palestinian people. “We have one mission here, which is to deliver food directly to the people of Gaza,” Fay said. GHF’s private security allows it to safely pass through the “truck graveyard,” a byproduct of the massive risk that comes with delivering aid to civilians that has stopped other aid organizations. In fact, he added, another humanitarian organization’s truck drivers have requested security from GHF to reach distribution sites safely. Local drivers tell harrowing stories of attempts to deliver aid, thwarted by life-threatening encounters with Hamas or armed gangs.
The GHF recognizes the significant problems plaguing its current aid delivery system, particularly when it comes to securing distribution sites. It’s now working to bring food to people instead of the other way around. In its beta stages, community members who are vetted as non-Hamas operatives are delivering food as aid workers. The foundation has also urged Israel to open more distribution sites, which would alleviate problems of overcrowding and prevent aid seekers from having to travel long distances to obtain supplies.
As for the U.N., the GHF has an offer: Let us deliver the untouched aid currently spoiling near the Israeli border. “Grab an oar—we would be happy to help with security, we would be happy to help deliver,” Fay said. “The answer to most of these problems is more aid.”
