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The head of the little-known private group set to take over Gaza aid deliveries has resigned, saying the US and Israeli-backed plan would not be able to adhere to humanitarian principles.
Jake Wood had been serving as the executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an obscure Swiss-incorporated organisation poised to displace the UN and other agencies as the sole mechanism to get critical supplies into the shattered enclave.
Wood, a US marine veteran who ran disaster relief agency Team Rubicon, said in a statement late on Sunday that he was “proud” of the work he had done in recent months developing a “pragmatic plan” that could feed hungry Gazans, halt the diversion of aid supplies by militant group Hamas, and complement the work of other international agencies already working in the strip.
“However, it is clear 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,” he said.
Under the GHF plan, individual Gazan families would travel to receive boxed meals every week from distribution hubs secured by US private security contractors and the Israeli military.
The UN, long the principal provider of aid to Gaza, has condemned the arrangement as a “fig leaf” for the forced displacement of the local population, primarily to southern Gaza where most of the hubs are to be located, and have refused to take part in the scheme.
Israeli military officials and other western officials have also privately criticised the plan as insufficient to remedy the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the war-torn enclave.
They have also raised concerns about the ability of private contractors to maintain control at hubs intended to provide aid to some 300,000 people in a territory the UN has warned is on the verge of starvation.
Wood’s resignation adds to concern about the scheme’s viability, as several people familiar with GHF’s plans had already raised doubts over aid provision and funding.
Nevertheless, in a statement released early on Monday, the GHF board said they “will not be deterred” and that the first aid deliveries would begin later in the day. The board said it planned to reach “over one million Palestinians by the end the week”.
Hundreds of foreign security contractors have arrived in Israel over the past week ahead of their planned deployment into Gaza to guard aid convoys and the distribution centres.
An Israeli official said three of the initial hubs would be opened in southern Gaza, with an additional hub established in the central part of the strip.
Israel had halted all aid deliveries, including food and medicine, into Gaza for much of the past three months in an effort to increase pressure on Hamas in long-stalled ceasefire talks. The move has compounded a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2mn people in the enclave.
Under growing international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week began allowing the entry of what he called “limited” aid into the enclave according to the old UN-led model, as a “bridge” to the start of the GHF scheme.
Yet only 100 trucks a day, on average, have been allowed in so far according to Israeli military figures — an amount UN secretary-general António Guterres, said on Friday was “a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required”.
