The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced on Wednesday the successful completion of a pilot program aimed at delivering food aid directly to Gazan civilians—bypassing the Hamas terrorist group.
Conducted in partnership with Al-Amal, a local nongovernmental organization, the pilot distributed more than 2,000 boxes of food to residents in central Gaza.
GHF said it plans to expand the program across several communities by collaborating with additional local NGOs. The long-term goal is to deliver over 20,000 food boxes—equivalent to 1.2 million meals—daily across all regions of Gaza.
“The Gaza Strip is a dynamic, dangerous environment that requires innovative solutions to get food to those who need it most,” said GHF interim executive director John Acree. “I am encouraged by the results of this program and proud to work alongside our local NGO partner as we continue to feed the people of Gaza.”
Under the program, food distribution begins when a community leader contacts GHF, directly or through an NGO partner. GHF then vets the leader, assesses the community’s needs, and coordinates the delivery of an initial shipment of food aid.
The community leader collects the boxes at a predetermined location and distributes them to known members of their community. To ensure accountability, GHF verifies that all aid reaches those in need by cross-checking deliveries against a list of recipients provided by the community leader.
“We simply can’t keep doing things how they’ve always been done,” continued Acree. “Big challenges need new thinking, and I commend our team for continuing to think outside the box as we address pressing humanitarian needs on the ground.”
U.S. State Department documents confirm that Hamas is targeting GHF personnel through a campaign of bounties and violence, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday.
A June 30 cable sent from the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem states that the terrorist group has “formally placed bounties” on U.S. and Palestinian workers of GHF, a joint U.S.-Israeli aid effort formed in February to replace the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The bounties imperil “Palestinian workers and the U.S. security contractors helping to protect the GHF distribution sites,” the cable, marked “sensitive but unclassified,” reads, according to the Free Beacon’s report.
On June 28, the foundation warned that its employees were being targeted.
“We are aware of credible reports that Hamas is openly targeting the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and those who work with us,” the organization said on June 28. “According to these reports, Hamas has placed bounties on both our American security personnel and Palestinian aid workers—offering cash rewards to anyone who injures or kills them.”
On Saturday, two American aid workers were wounded in a terrorist attack during food distribution efforts at a GHF site in southern Gaza. According to a preliminary probe, two assailants threw fragmentation grenades at the aid workers as food distribution concluded. The injured Americans received medical treatment and were in stable condition.
GHF has distributed more than 67 million meals to Palestinians in the Strip.
