Rights Groups Warn Israeli- and US-Backed GHF Risks Complicity in International Law Violations in Gaza
Fifteen international human rights organizations have warned that the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and other private groups running humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza may be “aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”.
In a letter sent on Monday to GHF and the affiliated Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, the rights advocates, including Al Haq, TRIAL International and Al Mezan, warned that private contractors operating in Gaza in collaboration with the Israeli occupation risk “aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”.
They also noted that the contractors may be liable under US law and in other jurisdictions.
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
The UN confirmed that Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians with only a few trucks of aid having reached Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
“Every day Palestinians are met with carnage in their attempts to receive supplies from the insufficient amount of aid trickling into Gaza,” MSF said.
Through the GHF, Palestinians in Gaza would receive a “basic amount of food,” according to Jake Wood, who resigned as executive director of the foundation two days before the GHF started its operations. Wood said a statement that the group’s plans could not be consistent with the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
Former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness criticized the Israeli-US aid distribution mechanism, saying it has turned Gaza into a “human abattoir”.
“Hundreds of civilians are herded like animals into fenced-off pens and are slaughtered like cattle in the process,” Gunness said.
Israeli mass killings of aid seekers have also become a grim daily reality amid chaotic scenes, as desperate Palestinians are given only a narrow window to rush for food and are later targeted by Israeli forces. Over 450 aid seekers have been killed by Israeli forces near distribution sites operated by the GHF since it launched its operations on May 27.
The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the “lethal” US-Israel aid distribution mechanism in Gaza. In a post on X, Lazzarini indicated that Palestinian lives “have been so devalued”.
“It is now the routine to shoot & kill desperate & starving people while they try to collect little food from a company made of mercenaries,” he said.
“Inviting starving people to their death is a war crime. Those responsible of this system must be held accountable. This is a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness.”
The GHF aid mechanism has been described as “human slaughterhouses” and “mass death traps”, amid accusations that Israeli forces are luring desperate civilians to their deaths.
In the Monday letter, the rights groups said: ““GHF’s militarized model, coupled with its close collaboration with Israeli authorities, undermines the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
“We urge all parties involved – State actors, corporate entities, donors and individuals – to immediately suspend any action or support that facilitates the forcible displacement of civilians, contributes to starvation or other grave breaches of international law, or undermines the core principles of international humanitarian law.”
Earlier this month, the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights had warned in a separate letter to Johnnie Moore, the evangelical leader and Trump adviser appointed to run the foundation after its former head resigned, that he and other GHF representatives may face civil litigation or criminal prosecution, according to The Guardian.
“Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the weeks since GHF began its dehumanizing, militarized ‘distribution hubs’ in coordination with Israeli forces,” said Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff attorney at CCR, which also signed on to the most recent letter.
“If it continues its deadly, militarized operations, legal consequences will follow, whether in the United States or beyond.”
Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, another signatory, said it was “immoral and inhuman when those committing the genocide take responsibility to feed those whom they have starved”.
“They are using the GHF to humiliate, degrade and kill daily tens of starving people,” he added, referring to Israel.