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New Geneva foundation claims it can feed all of Gaza – with help from mercenaries [1]
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Date: 2025-05-09 17:16:00+02:00
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, recently registered in Geneva, has unveiled its plan to deliver aid to over two million Palestinians, bypassing traditional channels and using private armed security.
Everything appears to be in motion. Folded into Israel’s new strategy to “conquer” the Palestinian enclave, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – set up in Geneva earlier this year – has circulated its action plan. Run primarily by US figures and organisations, the foundation claims to have assembled a team of “seasoned experts” to launch a food distribution system that bypasses traditional humanitarian networks, instead relying on private security contractors.
The scope of the plan goes further than initially foreseen. With plans to establish “secure corridors” and use armoured vehicles, the organisation intends to set up four aid distribution centres – each serving around 300,000 Gazans. Ultimately, the group – whose origins remain unclear but which has received backing from the Trump administration – says it’s prepared to scale up operations to reach two million people, essentially the entire population of Gaza.
Military roots
In a document destined for governments and major donors, the foundation seeks to position itself as a “pragmatic” operator in the humanitarian field as well as in the security and financial sectors. Its future leadership team is made up mostly of Americans, including several former military personnel. The executive director is Jake Wood, a former US marine and founder of Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organisation composed of tens of thousands of military veterans. In the proposal, the foundation highlights his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan – as well as the title of his memoir, Once a Warrior.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special Middle East envoy, presented the plan to the Security Council at an informal briefing on Wednesday, according to media reports. The United Nations has declined to take part in Israel’s plan, warning that it risks violating key principles of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. Reacting to Le Temps' reporting, Amnesty International Switzerland expressed concern that the foundation could potentially “contribute to international crimes.”
With Gaza’s production capabilities in ruins and food aid completely blocked by Israel for over two months, the UN faces an impossible dilemma: stand aside as people starve, or participate in a system that may violate international law and risk legitimising it. To date, around 400 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military campaign.
Warehouses run dry
Like other organisations, World Central Kitchen confirmed this week that its Gaza warehouses are now empty and it can no longer distribute meals. Several of its workers were killed by the Israeli military, and the organisation has refused to participate in the Israeli-backed plan. This didn’t stop one of its former directors, Nate Mook, from joining the GHF leadership team.
Another name floated – though still unconfirmed – is David Beasley, the former head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). A Republican and former governor of South Carolina, Beasley has faced criticism in humanitarian circles for enthusiastically supporting a US project to build a pier in Gaza for aid delivery – an effort plagued by delays and ultimately abandoned by the Biden administration.
The WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, has also refused to back the plan. However, several sources told Le Temps that the US government is applying considerable pressure on WFP leadership to reconsider.
Swiss ties and financial backing
The foundation is keen to highlight its Swiss base as a selling point for donors who might prefer to support efforts outside a purely American framework. Financial transactions, according to the proposal, would be routed through Goldman Sachs.
To attract donors, the foundation points to its projected cost: just $1.30 per meal per Palestinian. This figure includes logistics and “security”, which together account for 56% of the total, but the foundation doesn’t specify whether this also covers payments to the mercenaries, expected to come from two US-based firms.
In a possible bid to keep costs down, the foundation has pegged the daily food requirement per person at 1,750 kilocalories. That’s below the internationally recognised humanitarian standard of 2,100 kilocalories per day.
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[1] Url:
https://genevasolutions.news/peace-humanitarian/new-geneva-foundation-claims-it-can-feed-all-of-gaza-with-help-from-mercenaries
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