The Gaza humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels. On May 30, a UN official described Gaza “as the hungriest place on earth” and “the only defined territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of famine.”
Before Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack inside Israel, approximately half of Gaza’s two million people relied on some form of assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), other UN agencies and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs). The Israeli military response exacerbated the situation as even more Palestinians became dependent on food, medicine and water supplied by humanitarian organizations. Moreover, Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid to Gaza and the lack of effective deconfliction mechanisms once aid entered Gaza, coupled with systematic looting of humanitarian aid by Hamas and criminal groups, contributed to scarcities of food and other essentials and undermined the safety of humanitarian workers.
At the end of the six-week ceasefire that prevailed between January 19 and March 2, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of the Trump Administration, imposed a complete closure on Gaza, preventing any humanitarian supplies from entering the territory. Food stockpiles were soon depleted; on May 13, the World Health Organization reported that 57 infants had died from acute malnutrition since the blockade was imposed. Antibiotics and other medicines required to treat routine illnesses became unavailable and the numbers of preventable deaths increased.
Ultimately, reports and visuals describing the extreme plight of the civilian population in Gaza increased pressure on the Government of Israel (GOI) to lift the blockade and allow for humanitarian access. On May 19, the GOI allowed the first aid trucks in more than 80 days to enter Gaza, but the numbers were insufficient to address the humanitarian needs. A week later, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-initiated mechanism began operating.
Throughout the war, Israel has sought to balance its obligation to permit humanitarian access while preventing the diversion of food by Hamas and other militant groups to provide for their militants and to sell on the black market. While humanitarian organizations dispute that there have been more than de minimis diversions, the GOI encouraged development of alternative mechanisms for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The newly-formed Delaware and Swiss registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) represents Israel’s current response. As explained in a 14-page prospectus-like document, GHF would hire personnel, purchase humanitarian packages, arrange for the transport of the packages to designated humanitarian hubs inside Gaza and distribute the packages at the hubs to individuals on behalf of their families. Integral to the plan was the hiring of a US-based Safe Reach Solutions, which would provide security at the hubs.
The first GHF hubs became operational on Tuesday, May 27. According to the GHF, more than 5.88 million meals were distributed during its first week of operations. Without doubt, Gaza’s population welcomes aid that becomes available from whatever source, but the number of meals required far exceeds GHF’s capabilities and the civilian casualties suffered en route to the hubs may discourage some Palestinians from making the trek in the future.
For these and other reasons, the GHF has had trouble recruiting and retaining personnel. David Beasley, the well-regarded former head of the World Food Programme, was initially touted as a GHF adviser, but ultimately declined the role. And on the day before GHF was scheduled to launch the hubs, Jake Wood, the GHF founder and Executive Director, resigned, explaining that “it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.” GHF suffered an additional blow when the Boston Consulting Group, which set the prices for paying and equipping the array of contractors, severed relations with the operation.
The GOI, meanwhile, has implicitly acknowledged the limitations of the GHF and is now permitting a small number of trucks to drop off materials on the Gaza side of the Keren Shalom crossing. However, according to a May 28 statement issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, most of these goods have not been distributed within Gaza because of ongoing military operations and the refusal of the Israeli military to guarantee the security of humanitarian actors between the crossing and the distribution sites.
Recommendations for the international community
Recommendations for the Trump Administration