Hamas blocking Gazans from reaching aid, relief group says

US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation begins delivering aid to Gaza civilians, accuses Hamas of threatening its personnel and preventing Gazans from reaching aid depots.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

An American-based relief group supported by the US government made its first humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Monday, while facing threats from the Hamas terror organization, aid officials announced.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), established in February as part of a bid by the US and Israel to find an mechanism for ensuring Hamas does not seize incoming humanitarian aid to Gaza, began delivering food to distribution depots inside the Gaza Strip on Monday, despite the sudden resignation of the group’s founder and executive director a day earlier.

On Sunday, Jake Wood abruptly quit the GHF, just months after establishing the organization, claiming that operational limitations placed on it by Israel prevented it from achieving its objectives of “neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

In a statement issued on Monday, the GHF announced that Wood had been replaced by John Acree, who was named as interim executive director.

The foundation said that its personnel operating in Gaza faced death threats from Hamas, adding that the terror group was actively trying to prevent Gaza civilians from reaching the GHF’s aid distribution depots.

“GHF also condemns in the strongest terms Hamas’s death threats targeting aid groups supporting humanitarian operations at GHF’s Safe Distribution Sites, and efforts to block the Gazan people from accessing aid at the sites,” the GHF said.

“It is clear that Hamas is threatened by this new operating model, and will do everything in its power to see it fail. The safety and security of aid workers and civilians is non-negotiable.”

Established in February to facilitate aid transfers through an alternative delivery system, circumventing existing relief groups and preventing Hamas from taking control of incoming aid trucks, the GHF operates multiple aid distribution sites in Israeli-controlled territory, handing over food packages directly to Gaza civilians.

Last week, Israel agreed to permit the resumption of aid transfers to Gaza, amid pressure from the US administration to end the nearly three-month-long blockade on the coastal enclave.