Controversial US-backed Gaza Relief Group Ends Aid Operations
The debated, US and Israel-backed GHF aid organization declares it is concluding its aid operations in the Palestinian territory, following nearly half a year.
The organisation had already suspended its several relief locations in Gaza following the halt in hostilities between Palestinian factions and Israel took effect recently.
The GHF aimed to bypass the UN as the main supplier of humanitarian assistance to Gazans.
International relief agencies would not collaborate with its system, saying it was improper and dangerous.
Hundreds of Palestinians were lost their lives while seeking food amid disorderly situations near the organization's distribution points, mainly through Israeli military action, according to the UN.
Israel said its troops fired warning shots.
Operation Conclusion
The foundation announced on the beginning of the week that it was terminating work now because of the "successful completion of its emergency mission", with a total of three million packages containing the equivalent of more than 187 million meals delivered to Palestinians.
The organization's top administrator, the foundation leader, further mentioned the United States-operated coordination body - which has been set up to help implement US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan - would be "taking over and developing the model GHF piloted".
"The organization's system, in which Palestinian factions were unable to divert and benefit from humanitarian assistance, was significantly influential in getting Hamas to the table and establishing a truce."
Comments and Positions
The Palestinian faction - which refutes aid diversion claims - welcomed the closure of the aid organization, according to reports.
A spokesman for said the foundation should be subject to scrutiny for the negative impact it created to local residents.
"We request all global human rights groups to guarantee that responsibility is assigned after resulting in fatalities and harm of numerous Palestinians and covering up the starvation policy practised by the Israeli government."
Operational Background
The organization commenced activities in Gaza on 26 May, a week after the Israeli government had moderately reduced a comprehensive closure on aid and commercial deliveries to Gaza that continued for 77 days and led to substantial deficiencies of essential supplies.
Subsequently, a famine was declared in Gaza City.
The GHF's food distribution sites in various parts of the Palestinian territory were managed by American private security firms and located inside areas controlled by Israeli forces.
Humanitarian Concerns
The UN and its partners said the approach breached the fundamental humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, and that channelling desperate people into militarised zones was intrinsically hazardous.
International human rights monitoring body reported it tracked the deaths of a minimum of 859 residents attempting to obtain nourishment in the vicinity of GHF sites between late May through end of July.
Another 514 people were fatally wounded around the paths taken by United Nations and additional relief shipments, it also mentioned.
Most of them were killed by the Israeli forces, as per the organization's documentation.
Conflicting Accounts
Israeli defense forces stated its soldiers had discharged cautionary rounds at people who approached them in a "threatening" manner.
The organization declared there were no firearm incidents at the distribution centers and accused the UN of using "inaccurate and deceptive" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
Future Implications
The organization's continuation had been indefinite since militant groups and the Israeli government approved a truce agreement to carry out the initial stage of the United States' reconciliation proposal.
The agreement stated relief provision would take place "without interference from the two parties through the UN organizations and their partners, and the humanitarian medical organization, in combination with other worldwide bodies not associated in any manner" with Palestinian factions and Israeli authorities.
International organization official the UN spokesman declared this week that the foundation's closure would have "no impact" on its work "as we never partnered with them".
The spokesperson additionally stated that while more aid was getting into Gaza since the halt in hostilities began on 10 October, it was "insufficient to meet all the needs" of the 2.1 million residents.