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The head of an organization established to distribute Gaza’s assistance as part of a controversial plan, supported by Israel, resigned, stating that it cannot work in a way that adheres to “humanitarian principles”.
Jake Wood left the Humanitarian Gaza Foundation (GHF) late on Sunday, stating that he would not be able to fulfill the principles of “humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”
The plan, also supported by the US, provides for private contractors to provide help to Palestinians through distribution sites designed by Israel. He was heavily criticized by the United Nations organization, which says he would not participate.
Israel insists that the plan is necessary to stop Hamas from stealing help that the armed group denies.
According to the GHF plan, Palestinians are expected to collect boxes weighing up to 20 kg (44 pounds) containing food and basic four -point hygiene elements for southern gas distribution.
It is not clear how weak or wounded could collect the help.
UN AID chief Tom Fletcher has said that this will require more displacement, will limit the aid to only one part of the gas and make a “hunger in the market”.
In his resignation statement, Wood, a former Marine, said: “Two months ago, I turned to GHF’s leading efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations.
“Like many others in the world, I was horrified and broken by the heart of the hunger crisis in Gaza, and as a humanitarian leader, I was forced to do my best to help relieve suffering.”
He said he was proud of the work I was managing, including the development of a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, deal with the security concerns about deviation, and supplement the work of long -standing NGOs in Gaza. “
But, he said, it became clear that it is not possible to implement this plan, while strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, which it will not abandon. “
In response, GHF said it would “not be deterred” by Wood’s resignation and would begin to provide help on Monday in order to reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
The group said the critics “benefit from the status quo were more focused on tearing this than on receiving help, fearing that new, creative solutions to insoluble problems may actually succeed.”
He added: “Our trucks are loaded and ready to go.”
The Israeli media reported that the first of the four distribution centers will be opened by GHF on Monday morning.
Last week, Israel relieved the 11 -week blockade of all food, fuel, medicines and other supplies entering Gaza, with first aid trucks reaching civilians, but the UN said it was a “decline in the ocean of necessary”.
The World Food Program (WFP) warned last week that the entire gas population was “on the verge of hunger.”
Jan Aigland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC Today program that GHF was “militarized, privatized, politicized” and “not in line with neutrality”.
“The people behind him are the military they are the former CIA and former military people … Let’s go back to the system that works,” he said.
GHF is also underlying intense control over its funding, origin and support.
During the weekend an investigation from The New York Times He suggests that the group may have been conceived in Israel by a group of Israeli officials and military officers and their partners in the Israeli business sector.
In response to the plan earlier this month, a spokesman for the UN Children Fund Jonathan Crick said: “How a mother of four children who lost her husband will carry 20 kg back to her makeshift tent, sometimes a few kilometers?”
“The most vulnerable people, including the elderly, people with disabilities, patients and wounded and orphans, will face huge challenges to access help.”
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.
At least 53,939 people, including at least 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza ever since, according to the health ministry in the territory.