What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and why has it been criticised?
Displaced Palestinians flee from Khan Younis on19 May 2025, as Israel carries out attacks on the southern Gaza city
Al Jazeera reports on 20 May 2025:
The United States says a new Israeli-approved organisation – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – is the key to resolving the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, but it already is receiving its fair share of criticism.
The GHF says it is going to start operations before the end of May. United Nations officials and humanitarian groups say it will not have the ability to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza as a result of Israel’s two-month-long blockade.
Instead, the aid groups that have been working in Gaza point out that they have the capacity to bring in food and other humanitarian supplies – if only Israel would let them.
So what is the GHF, and why is the situation in Gaza so desperate? Here’s everything you need to know:
What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?
Officially independent, the GHF is an Israeli- and US-backed body that plans to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip.
One in five people in Gaza currently face starvation due to the Israeli blockade of food and aid while 93 percent are experiencing acute food shortages, according to a UN-backed assessment released last week.
Under increasing international pressure to allow in aid, Israel has sought to find a solution that it says prevents aid from falling into the hands of the Palestinian group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations say the vast majority of food and other supplies reaches Gaza’s civilian population and is not diverted to fighters.