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As the U.S.<\/span> and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced its closure of operations in the territory on Monday, the organization tabulated its \u201csuccess\u201d by stating it delivered 3 million boxes of food \u201cdirectly to civilians living in Gaza,\u201d which, by the organization\u2019s count, equals 187 million meals.<\/p>\n Another way of measuring GHF\u2019s achievements is by counting the hundreds<\/a> of Palestinians killed while trying to access such aid<\/a> and the hundreds more who died of starvation-related conditions<\/a> amid famine<\/a> when GHF was the only organization allowed to deliver aid.<\/p>\n Since May, when Israel ousted long-standing aid providers<\/a> and made GHF the lone distributor in Gaza, Israeli soldiers and American<\/a> subcontractors<\/a> have killed nearly 3,000<\/a> Palestinians seeking aid, according to a September tally by Gaza health officials. The vast majority<\/a> were killed at GHF sites. Doctors Without Borders dubbed the GHF distribution points as \u201csites of orchestrated killing<\/a>\u201d after its medical teams cared for nearly 900 patients wounded at the four GHF hubs.<\/p>\n \u201cOn every dimension, on every indicator, I\u2019d consider it a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared a famine in Gaza City. GHF did not expand its operations beyond its four distribution sites. Within the famine\u2019s first month, at least 175<\/a> Palestinians died of starvation, a likely undercount. <\/p>\n \u201cThe GHF model is one of the worst \u2018aid\u2019 \u2014 and I use \u2018aid\u2019 in quotes \u2014 models that\u2019s been tried in the 21st century, if not longer than that,\u201d said Anastasia Moran, advocacy director at MedGlobal, a Chicago-based medical aid organization that has teams inside Gaza. \u201cOn every dimension, on every indicator, I\u2019d consider it a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since March, Israel\u2019s government has blockaded the entire Gaza strip in violation of international law<\/a>, creating famine<\/a> conditions across the territory. The Israeli government, with funding from the U.S. government, appointed the newly formed GHF to oversee all aid distribution in the territory in May. The Swiss-based organization was first run by Jake Wood, a former American sniper turned aid worker, who quit within two weeks after stating the foundation did not adhere to basic humanitarian principles of neutrality. GHF\u2019s chair is Johnnie Moore, an evangelical minister and former religious adviser to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Built on the Israeli misinformation campaign<\/a> claiming Hamas was seizing and controlling most aid in Gaza, debunked by both U.S<\/a>. and Israeli intelligence<\/a>, the GHF model cut out the United Nations and all international NGOs, insisting it could deliver enough food to slow the worsening starvation conditions. The U.N. previously operated<\/a> 400 aid sites throughout Gaza<\/a>. <\/p>\n Rather than maintain the existing model of bringing food and supplies to individuals with most need by delivering goods directly to communities, GHF established four distribution sites. The foundation also hired two American logistics and security firms \u2014 UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions, led by a Green Beret veteran and former CIA officer, respectively \u2014 to oversee distribution. The result was the funneling of thousands of desperate people who traveled long distances <\/a>into aid sites where long lines often devolved into stampedes. Gunfire from Israeli soldiers, or private American contractors, largely former U.S. special forces, was a near-daily reality.<\/p>\n The model amounted to simply another tool of war by the occupying Israeli forces. <\/p>\n \u201cThe GHF is a symptom, it\u2019s not the problem,\u201d said Scott Paul, Oxfam America\u2019s director of peace and security. \u201cThe GHF is only relevant because people weren\u2019t allowed access to food in ways that were safe and humane. In this way, the GHF is an entity occupying negative space, and the negative space is the deadly siege that the government of Israel has imposed for most of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGHF is an entity occupying negative space, and the negative space is the deadly siege that the government of Israel has imposed for most of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The Israeli government continues to block aid into Gaza in violation of the recent ceasefire agreement<\/a>. While the U.N. has been able to deliver some aid into the territory, Israel continues to restrict major NGOs from delivering aid, blocking<\/a> more than 100 aid delivery requests in the first month after the ceasefire started on October 10, according to the U.N.<\/p>\n Oxfam, for instance, has $2.5 million worth of goods, including food and supplies to make water safe to drink, waiting inside a warehouse in Jordan, Paul said. Similarly, MedGlobal has said its shipments of medical goods are being prevented from entering Gaza.<\/p>\n While it wrapped its operations in Gaza, GHF said Monday it would not forgo its NGO status and pledged to \u201cmaintain readiness to reconstitute if new humanitarian needs are identified.\u201d The foundation added that it is working to expand its model with the the Civil-Military Coordination Center, a base in southern Israel operated primarily by the U.S. military<\/a>, meant to oversee aid distribution and the rebuilding of Gaza. The joint command base, or CMCC, is seen as the precursor to the eventual Trump-led Board of Peace that will govern Gaza\u2019s rebuilding. The plan to form the Board of Peace, a key part of Donald Trump\u2019s 20-point plan<\/a> for Gaza, was codified<\/a> into international law last week in a controversial U.N. Security Council vote and excludes Palestinian voices from the process. The plan ignored a previous U.N. resolution<\/a> that called for the end of Israel\u2019s occupation and creating a path to Palestinian statehood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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