Head of US' Gaza aid group quits over humanitarian concerns
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GHF head Jake Wood resigns from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, citing violations of humanitarian principles amid criticism from the UN and aid groups.
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Trucks line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, March 2, 2025. (AP/Mohamed Arafat)
Jake Wood, the executive director of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), announced his resignation on Sunday, stating the group’s aid delivery model could not be implemented without violating core humanitarian principles.
The departure throws fresh uncertainty over the future of the initiative backed by the Israeli occupation and the United States to deliver food aid into the besieged enclave, bypassing traditional aid structures.
Last week, the Gaza Government Media Office announced in a statement that "Israel's" brutal blockade on humanitarian aid has killed hundreds of Gazans, and led to a sharp rise in miscarriages.
"The Israeli occupation's starvation policy in Gaza has led to the deaths of 326 people due to malnutrition and lack of food and medicine, along with over 300 miscarriages among pregnant women in just 80 days," the office stated.
In a public statement, Wood said he was proud of the plan he had developed, which aimed to distribute 300 million meals within 90 days while addressing diversion concerns and complementing existing NGOs.
However, he added, “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.”
Wood, who had been recruited two months earlier due to his experience in humanitarian operations, said he was motivated by the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza but ultimately could not reconcile the plan’s execution with professional standards.
His resignation follows warnings from the United Nations and leading humanitarian agencies that the foundation’s strategy undermines international law and risks exacerbating suffering in the occupied territory.
UN, aid groups reject Israeli-originated aid model
The GHF was created in February in Geneva and designed around a model initiated by the Israeli occupation, which excluded the UN and existing humanitarian actors.
Instead, it involved private companies transporting aid to a limited number of “secure” distribution points in southern Gaza. These points, UN officials warned, are inaccessible to many of the most vulnerable people under siege, including the sick, elderly, and disabled.
Jonathan Crickx, a spokesperson for UNICEF, criticized the model earlier this month, asking, “How is a mother of four children, who has lost her husband, going to carry 20kg back to her makeshift tent, sometimes several kilometres away?” Crickx warned that the plan would increase the suffering of civilians already displaced and devastated by Israeli aggression.
In a statement released shortly after Wood’s departure, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation board said it was “disappointed” but reiterated its commitment to begin deliveries immediately. “Our trucks are loaded and ready to go,” the statement read. The foundation pledged to reach over one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
The US State Department, which has backed the GHF initiative, said it remains supportive of the organization’s operations. It did not comment on Wood’s resignation or the growing chorus of criticism.
The resignation came as Israeli occupation forces carried out new attacks on the Gaza Strip. On Monday, at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families, according to local authorities. Over the weekend, health officials reported 38 deaths within 24 hours, highlighting the escalating toll of the military campaign.
