The controversial aid group, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the U.S. and Israel, which has frequently come under fire for contributing to civilian deaths in the blockaded Palestinian enclave, announced that it has ended its operation after nine months.
"The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) today announced the successful completion of its emergency mission in Gaza after delivering more than 187 million free meals directly to civilians living in Gaza," the organization said in a statement.
GHF Executive Director John Acree said the group was "winding down our operations as we have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans."
Acree said the GHF's model was being adopted and expanded by the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) and other international organizations following weeks of talks.
The GHF, which was created by the U.S. and Israel to replace the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), has faced criticism for failing to meet agreed-upon aid delivery levels. Navi Pillay, chair of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, criticized the foundation’s operations, calling its role in distributing aid in the besieged enclave “outrageous.”
GHF began distributing aid on May 26, after Israel cut off supply routes into Gaza for over two months, prompting warnings of mass famine. The effort, labeled private and opaque in its funding structure, has drawn criticism from international humanitarian organizations, which declined to cooperate over concerns that the foundation serves Israeli military objectives.
Dozens of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while attempting to access GHF aid points.
Under the cease-fire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 10, 600 trucks of aid were supposed to enter Gaza daily.
Israel, however, has not adhered to the agreement, launching almost daily attacks that have killed at least 342 Palestinians since Oct. 10.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,900 in a brutal offensive that reduced most of the enclave to rubble.
