Private US group says ready to resume Gaza aid

Under a ceasefire mediated by the United States, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American non-profit organization charged with delivering aid to Palestinian people in Gaza, informed AFP on Saturday that it is prepared to start shipping again.

After Israel imposed harsh limitations on foreign agencies, a private organization supported by the United States and Israel was tasked with providing food to starving Gazans in May. However, the organization’s efforts were criticized by both traditional aid agencies and UN experts.

Hundreds of Palestinians are were killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid at GHF distribution sites according to the UN human rights office and, in August, United Nations special rapporteurs called for it to be disbanded.

GHF spokesman Chapin Fay said the foundation had paused operations during the first phase of Gaza’s ceasefire while remaining Israeli hostages are released by Hamas, and was now awaiting orders to get back to work.

“While the situation remains fluid on the ground, GHF has been instructed to remain ready to re-engage and specifically not to take any actions that would preclude us from resuming operations immediately,” Fay said.

“GHF has trucks of aid loaded up and ready to resume delivering aid directly to the Palestinian people, including women, children and the elderly,” he said.

“Our mission will evolve to meet the needs on the ground.”

According to the UN-appointed expert group, help under the GHF was “exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas” in August.

The UN system it replaced had 400 distribution centers in the Gaza Strip, compared to the GHF’s four.

The GHF told AFP that the ‘SDS4′ location, a secure distribution site near Khan Yunis, had been removed following Hamas’ October 13 handover of the remaining live hostages held in Gaza to Israel.

Israel and the Palestinian organization Hamas agreed to a truce and prisoner exchange deal supported by the United States two weeks ago.

It is the initial stage of what foreign mediators hope would be a war-ending and reconstruction-starting process.