Controversial US-backed GHF to end ‘mission’ in Gaza: Statement

The GHF organization, which is supported by Israel and the United States, has announced that it is ending its “mission” in Gaza.

After beginning food distribution in the Palestinian enclave in May, the group sparked controversy.

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It has received a lot of bad press for avoiding Gaza’s UN and other humanitarian aid facilities and for deadly violence that Israeli soldiers and its own security contractors frequently erupt at or close to its crowded distribution centers.

In a statement released on Monday, GHF Executive Director John Acree stated that the organization’s initial objective was to address an urgent need, demonstrate that a new approach could succeed where others had failed, and ultimately transfer that success to the broader international community.

The statement cited provisions from the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as the justification for putting an end to the organization’s operations.

That included Israel allowing UN-backed aid distribution efforts to partially resume and the establishment of the US-backed Civil-Military Coordination Center, which is intended to coordinate aid to Gaza.

As a result, we are closing down our operations because we have succeeded in demonstrating there is a more effective way to provide aid to Gazans, according to the statement, which claims to be the only aid operation that reliably and safely delivered free meals to Palestinians in Gaza, at a scale and without distraction.

Many prominent figures in the world’s humanitarian community were directly offended by the statement.

28 UN experts called for the GHF to be shut down in August, citing the situation as an “utterly disturbing illustration of how humanitarian aid can be used to advance covert military and geopolitical goals in grave violation of international law.”

According to them, “Israeli forces and foreign military contractors continue to fire indiscriminately at people seeking aid at so-called “distribution sites” operated by GHF.”

At least 859 Palestinians have been killed near GHF sites since its launch in late May, according to the experts at the time.

The experts noted, among other things, that the scheme required aid seekers to travel for a long time to a few GHF sites to get supplies, which was contrary to the UN’s aid delivery model, which emphasizes delivering aid more directly to the affected communities.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system, the US had proposed the GHF as a way to aid in Gaza at a time when Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian operations were causing famine in some areas of the war-torn territory.

The best way to address the crisis, according to UN officials, was to grant independent aid workers unrestricted access to the area.

The GHF acknowledged in a statement released on Monday that it had only opened four distribution centers in Gaza, three of which were in southern Gaza and one close to Gaza City. It still praised the organization’s performance as a model for upcoming aid deliveries.