LEADING aid and human rights organisations have condemned the ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ as ‘a dangerous, politicised sham’.
Caabu (Council for Arab-British Understanding) is among 11 human rights organisations unequivocally rejecting the establishment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
In the statement below, the 11 groups call it a dangerous, politicised sham acting as a smokescreen to rebrand aid access while Israel pushes on with its blockade and bombing of civilians.
‘We, the undersigned humanitarian and human rights organisations, unequivocally reject the establishment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a project led by politically connected Western security and military figures, coordinated in tandem with the Israeli government, and launched while the people of Gaza remain under total siege.
‘It lacks any Palestinian involvement in its design or implementation.
‘This initiative is not a genuine humanitarian effort. It is a smokescreen and, as United Nations Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher has said, “a cynical sideshow” for a deeply flawed and dangerous attempt to rebrand the delivery of aid in Gaza while the Israeli government continues to impose a blockade, bomb civilians, and block life-saving assistance.
‘Aid does not need rebranding. It needs to be allowed in.
‘The Problem is Not Logistics. It is Intentional Starvation.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
A Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing
‘The GHF plan outlines the delivery of limited supplies to only 1.2 million people in Gaza during its first phase, with a possible expansion to two million.
‘There are over 2.2 million people in Gaza. As reported by the Times of Israel, Israeli officials have acknowledged they hope to see some countries “begin to take in Palestinians”, thereby reducing the “gap” between the aid capacity and the population size.
‘This is not a logistics problem. It is an admission that the plan includes the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, or worse, the abandonment of more than one million people to famine.
‘This is not speculation; it is, as organisations such as Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief have stated, a documented intent.
‘If the strategy knowingly includes failing to feed an entire segment of the population, that is not humanitarianism. It is a crime.
‘Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly advocated for the “voluntary emigration” of Gaza’s population, suggesting that reducing the number of Palestinians in Gaza would alter post-war discussions.
‘He stated, “If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different.”
Aid Must Be Principled, Not Militarised
‘The GHF board includes former senior US military and security officials with no roots in Gaza, no accountability to Palestinian civil society, and a clear record of working in coordination with the Israeli and United States governments.
‘The use of armed private contractors and armoured vehicles, all while aid is routed through Israeli-controlled checkpoints, violates the core humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, and impartiality.
‘Aid that is used to mask ongoing violence is not aid, it is in fact humanitarian cover for a military strategy of control and dispossession.
‘Humanitarian action is governed by four universally recognised principles: Humanity, Neutrality, Impartiality, and Independence.
‘Humanity means that human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found, with special attention to the most vulnerable.
‘Neutrality requires that aid must not favour any side in an armed conflict or political dispute.
‘Impartiality demands that assistance be provided solely based on need, without discrimination of any kind. Independence ensures that humanitarian objectives remain autonomous from political, military, or economic agendas.
‘Any aid operation that undermines these principles, by aligning with one side of the conflict, excluding populations, or operating through military or occupying powers, cannot be considered truly humanitarian.
‘The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, by design, fails these standards.
We Call for Real Action
‘If governments and donors want to support real humanitarian aid, they must:
- Demand an immediate and unconditional end to the Israeli siege on Gaza;
- Reopen and support multiple, non-Israeli-controlled land crossings, especially Rafah;
- Protect the neutrality, impartiality and independence of humanitarian aid;
- Ensure aid does not become a tool for forced displacement or political manipulation;
- Pursue accountability for those responsible for attacks on aid workers, aid convoys and aid facilities, and for those responsible for the ongoing blockade of Gaza, a war crime and likely act of genocide.
‘We call on all humanitarians, NGOs, governments, and journalists to reject the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation model and instead demand principled access for all aid providers, not just those who cooperate with an occupying power.
‘The solution is not a new branding of occupation. The solution is an end to it.
Signed:
- ABCD Bethlehem
- Action For Humanity
- ActionAid
- Amos Trust
- Caabu
- CAFOD
- Christian Aid
- Interpal
- Sabeel-Kairos UK
- War on Want
• Welfare Association’
