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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) initiated the delivery of aid to Gaza’s civilians at the conclusion of May after access to essential supplies, like food and medical items, was obstructed by Israel for nearly three months.
However, there is criticism that the delivery of aid by GHF politicises and militarises aid.
Who is behind the GHF?
However, with ongoing barriers preventing aid from reaching the area due to Israeli access restrictions, the United States lent its support to the newly established GHF to manage the allocation of aid.
It has since been formed and started delivering aid on 26 May.
How aid has historically been delivered around the world
“This makes sure there is coordination with the aid community as well as with the government and any other actors on the ground,” he said.
“This is unprecedented in this form, the removing of UN and other international and national actors has not happened before.”
How had aid previously been delivered in Gaza?
The UN referred to its relief efforts in Gaza as opportunistic due to complications from Israeli military actions, restrictive Israeli access policies into and within Gaza, and looting by armed groups.
Mudasser Siddiqui from Plan International Australia says well-established humanitarian structures have been utilised around the world, and there was no need for a new model. Source: Supplied
Siddiqui said there were international mechanisms in place that could be used for robust monitoring to investigate and respond to such allegations.
Israel would first inspect and approve aid before it was dropped off on the Gaza side of the border, where it was picked up by the UN and distributed.
How does GHF operate?
It is understood that Israeli military personnel oversee the supplies until they are handed over to US security personnel to distribute in Gaza.
De Waal, who writes on humanitarian issues and conflict, said the strategy behind the plan appeared to be aimed at providing just enough aid to Gaza’s civilian population in an attempt to more precisely target Hamas and its operatives with starvation.
Concerns about aid delivery
The UN says the US-backed distribution plan does not meet its long-held principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence.
Furthermore, relying on this delivery model also provided little oversight of what was happening in Gaza.
Security concerns
“This is an example of why we need experienced entities to manage the delivery rather than replacing them with this kind of limited scheme, because the communities are being asked to walk for hours to these sites and the necessary crowd management may not be there,” he said.
